Delays expected on Monterey’s Lighthouse Avenue as Pacific Street exit closes

Expect at least 30 days of delays on southbound Lighthouse Avenue starting Wednesday as the city of Monterey repaves the Pacific Street exit and adds new sidewalks to create a safer route for pedestrians between New Monterey and Downtown, according to interim public works director Steve Wittry. The Pacific Street exit will be closed from September 6th to October 6th forcing drivers who are looking to go downtown to use the tunnel on Lighthouse to get the next exit, which is Tyler Street. Even without construction, Lighthouse Avenue typically sees backups during rush hour, this is something Wittry understands, but says the work needs to be done now before the winter rains comes. “That piece of road has been in a state of failure for quite sometime,” said Wittry. “What we wanted to do is wait until the end of the summer season. With Labor Day being behind us now we wanted to go in before the storms hit. So we have a small window of time to get in there and do this work before weather hits us.” The projects aims to add a sidewalk all the way across Lighthouse curve. “So basically it will be a nice pedestrian path from New Monterey to the Presidio (of Monterey).” This particular piece of work is being tied into two other projects on El Dorado Street and Littlefield Road. The total cost of all three projects is about $1.2 million. It is being paid for my Measure P funds. Tune in to KION tonight at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for more.