Roundabout Project Moves to Phase 2

The Pacific Grove City Council at its September 17, meeting,  heard from Public Works Director Daniel Gho, who gave  an update  on the progress of the  estimated $7,000,000. roundabout project at the five-legged intersection of Sunset, Cedar and Congress.

      Susan Goldbeck later sat down with Gho to answer many questions  about this project posed to The Beacon by  residents. The Q and A below hopefully will answer some of them.

Q. When did the City Council approve the roundabout project? 

A. In July 2023, the City Council instructed staff to further investigate the project.  After  an investigation by City staff of  many of the critical issues involved with the project  and  which included numerous public meetings, the Council approved the project in April 2024 .  

   City Staff  representatives told the Council then that that the project will be executed in phases. Phase1will be to identify what the project will consist of and to identify the steps needed for the next phases. 

  Phase 2 will be related primarily to environmental studies. Gho said he expected that phase 2 will take one year to 18 months to complete. 

In Phase 3, the construction plans will be presented, along with the costs and all expenses related to the completion of the project. 

 Phase 4 will be the  presentation of actual construction costs.

Q.     What is depicted in schematic A and B ? (below)

A.       These are the renderings of the roundabout as it will look when installed. The first rendering reflects the entire corridor which will involve work on this project not directly in the vicinity of the roundabout. Note that the crosswalk will be entirely eliminated from the intersection and placed a distance from it.  This  crosswalk is  planned for Sunset and 19^th Street.  This will  also involve the installation of sidewalks and other work not directly in the roundabout intersection.

Q.      Why is there no crosswalk planned on Congress  or Cedar right down  from Forest   Grove school?

A.     This is because neither Cedar nor Congress is  part of this State highway project and  City funds would be needed to put a crosswalk at these locations,

Q.     If  installed,  these crosswalks it will be placed a distance from the roundabout?

A.     Yes. There will be no pedestrian crosswalks as part of the roundabout.

Q.     Was there a needs assessment done with respect to this project?

A.     Yes. The City and TAMC conducted a study of Highway 68 .It was determined that a roundabout would bring increased pedestrian as well as automobile  safety to this busy intersection.

Q. What type of public outreach was done in anticipation of the matter coming before the City Council?

A.  City Council approval came after several  meetings at the City Council level as well as numerous other public outreach efforts designed  to involve the public in the process. This included two community workshops in January of 2024,  a Traffic Safety Commission meeting of January 23, 2024 . A a public survey was sent out to affected residents regarding the options for reconfiguration of Cedar Street.

Q.    How long will the whole shebang take before the roundabout is in place.?

A.       It is hard to say until the construction documents are prepared and time estimates are provided.  

Q.     How much disruption of that busy area will be involved in this project?

A.   We won’t know until the construction plans are reviewed.

Q.    You mentioned that the rough estimate of the cost of the project is in the $7,000,000.    range, is that correct?

A.     Yes, but we can’t really know what the costs will be until we are in the next phase when construction plans and estimates are prepared.

Q.    What is the source of the funding for the roundabout project?

A.    The funding comes from State tax money  approved by the voters under State ballot  Measure X. which is earmarked for  road improvements . This State funding is designated to be used on State highways and roads. The roundabout is on State Highway 68.

 (Note: Highway 68  also know as Sunset Blvd. It runs from the Holman Highway area to the entrance  of Asilomar State Park.

      The City has entered into a partnership with the Transportation Agency of Monterey County, T.A.M.C., which is a funding resource agency devoted to transportation issues. TAMC dispenses the State tax money and supervises its spending on the roundabout project. The work is also subject to  approval by Cal Trans because as a State highway it is its jurisdiction.

Q.     How much money has been spent so far.?

A.     $ 444,110 has been expended to date of the $797,574 contract with GHS, who is the contractor tasked to do the Phase 1 work.  It is expected that Phase 1 work will cost $1,137961.

     The City of Pacific Grove was given a funding  bucket of $5,000.000. which in partnership with the TAMC have earmarked the funds for this roundabout  project and other improvements limited to the  Highway 68 corridor . This  includes the Forest and Sunset intersection, and the five -legged intersection at Congress , Sunset and Cedar,  and includes sidewalks and other street improvements as well.  

Q. Former City Councilmember Dan Miller suggested at the recent Council meeting that only one accident had occurred at this intersection in five years. Is that accurate?

A. No. The chart below shows the actual number is 13 which were largely sideswipe, broadside, and  rear- end collisions which, according to the traffic engineer are typically associated with  any stop-controlled intersections.

Q. There were no pedestrian involved accidents reflected in this study?

A. No.

Q.  What is the status of the project at the present time?

  s I said, this is a multi -year multi-million dollar effort that needs to be done in phases. Phase one was to do public outreach and some preliminary public meetings such as the  one at the Traffic Safety Commission to determine whether to go forward with the project.

     It was necessary to get Cal Trans approval as well as the road is under its jurisdiction. Cal Trans has accepted  and approved. the design engineering evaluation report.  These things have bee completed and the project is ready to move on to Phase 2.

Q.    Will this project involve the need for the City to purchase private land for the  project.

A.     Yes, but we don’t know what land will be needed yet. We  do know  now that a small amount of land from the high school property will be required .  We  have discussed  this issue  with School District  representatives  and although we have not received formal approval, they did not seem to object at this point.

Q. What if the City exhausts the $5 million in state tax revenue before the project is completed?

A. The City will be responsible to  locate the funds to finish the project, There  is sufficient grant funding  available both on the state and federal level that I am confident we can access for this purpose.

Q.  Does the five-million-dollar tax revenue bucket given to Pacific Grove for this project need to be used for a roundabout?

A. No, but it must be used on the highway 68  corridor .