Construction on the streets of Monterey faces trouble with expected rain

Cannery Row is a hot-spot for tourists on the Monterey Peninsula, usually buzzing with traffic and pedestrians. With some construction in the works, for visitors and locals, it’s tougher to get around.

“But I made it, I’m not going to let it ruin the vacation, but it was challenging,” said Mike Hendricks, visiting from Utah.

The weather plays a big role in construction projects around Monterey. The ideal conditions for construction? Sunny skies. But when there’s weather, crews said they need to be ready to adapt and adjust. They’re also constantly monitoring the weather. That helps them figure out if they need to speed up or delay construction.

“So these particular projects, if you look behind me, this will be poured with concrete before the storms hit,” said Jeff Krebs, Principal Engineer with the City of Monterey.

But other projects won’t be completed before the storms, expected to hit this weekend. And when they do, Public Works said the construction sites need to be “buttoned up”.

“Some plastic sheeting will be placed over the site to keep the earth from eroding away, there’ll be some diversion structures to keep the storm water out of the site and to keep the site as clean as possible,” said Steve Wittry, the City Engineer of Monterey.

Since Monterey is a popular summer destination. Most construction is done during the winter months.

“So basically what we want to do is make sure we can show our best face in the summertime, not the ideal for construction purposes but we do what we can to make things good for our residents and visitors,” said Wittry.

And construction on the streets of Monterey doesn’t look to be ending any time soon. Citywide street reconstruction is expected to last through at least May.