San Francisco drivers relieved as Caltrans wraps up work on 19th Avenue project
It's the final stretch for Caltrans along 19th Avenue in San Francisco, as crews are wrapping up the corridor's pavement rehabilitation project in San Francisco.
The project spans roughly 18.8 lane miles, with both northbound and southbound lanes of State Route 1.
"Nineteenth is very pothole-y and bumpy, so I'm glad we're getting it fixed, but it's tricky to get around," Georgia Mammen, who lives in San Francisco, told CBS News Bay Area.
"I do see these people working around the clock. I feel bad for them. I graduated the other day, and I was coming home at 11 at night. And they were still out there, like working on the roads. So, yeah, I'm excited for them to be done," she added.
Sunday's project was right by the Stonestown Galleria shopping mall, so Caltrans took a busy holiday weekend into consideration to start working at 5 p.m.
"Even though there's a few residents there, for the most part, it affected the businesses. So for the most part, we were trying to stay out of the Stonestown shoppers' way," Matt O'Donnell, Caltrans public information officer, told CBS News Bay Area.
He added that there is a checklist of items they'll have to get to.
"Minor things that really won't impact the traveling public very much. There's some striping going on at night, and some electrical work that will go on. And they do need to pave the California Street intersection; they don't have a date on that yet, but it will happen later this summer," O'Donnell said.
But he adds that the heavy lifting of the project is nearly done.
"Thank the residents for being really accommodating and very easy to work with," he said.
John Sullivan, who lives near the construction area, is also relieved.
"It creates a lot of havoc nearby, but they're doing a great job and they're getting it done in three weekends," Sullivan told CBS News Bay Area. "I think they've done a pretty good job. It needed to be done, the road had a lot of potholes and things like that. It's never going to be easy closing down part of 19th. Especially after they closed the Great Highway. You can't get across the city except the 19th."
"It's nice to have a smooth road and not worry about my car upkeep and stuff like that," Mammen said.
Caltrans officials reassured residents that the new pavement should last for at least the next 20 years.