Santa Maria Asking Drivers for Patience as Construction Snarls Traffic on Busy City Streets
Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – As a multi-week road resurfacing project ties up several busy Santa Maria streets, the city is asking the public to be patient and cautious as work continues.
Work has been ongoing for several days throughout the city and is expected to continue through November.
“Last year we went through and and repaired some of the subgrade to these roads,” said Santa Maria Public Works Director Brett Fugoni. “This year, we’re cutting it with what we call ‘chip seal.’ It’s a way to preserve the actual road so we can put a wear layer and a coating on top of the road, and that helps seal the road, prevents water from getting into the road and provides a wear layer for the asphalt.”
As construction has been taking place, it has created heavy traffic conditions, especially this week along South Bradley Road between East Stowell Road and East Betteravia Road.
“There will be impacts,” said Santa Maria Public Works Director Brett Fugoni. “We try to do the best we can to try to minimize those, but some impacts are just unavoidable.”
Fulgoni pointed out the all of the road work is taking place on Santa Maria’s busiest streets, including Broadway, Betteravia Road, Stowell Road, Bradley Road, Blosser Road, Cook Street, Miller Street, and many other locations.
“These are the main corridors,” said Fulgoni. “That’s why it’s so impactful.”
While the construction project is taking place, drivers can expect delays that could add up to several minutes, so the city is urging the public to plan their trip accordingly.
“Please be patient,” said Fulgoni. “We have published on our website exactly where we’re going to be with. If you’re interested in knowing that information, it’s readily available yourself and take a look at the schedule. If you have some more critical to be, make sure you’re not going to be impacted by the project because it’ll be citywide. Give yourself enough time to get to where you need to go.”
The City reports the cost of the project is $3 million and is being funded by Measure A, Gas Tax, and SB-1 Gas Tax dollars.
“The gas taxes that you pay is what, paying for this,” said Fulgoni. “The project is 10th of the cost to do chip seal versus putting down asphalt.”
For the list of construction project locations and dates, click here for project information on the City of Santa Maria website.
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