Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project taking shape in Marina
MARINA – The Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project is making strides in coming together as the last two weeks saw continued grading for paths and roads, and forming and placing concrete curbs, along with other construction work.
The Imjin Parkway project is a two-year effort to widen and increase safety on an artery linking the Monterey Peninsula and Salinas Valley for about 30,000 daily motorists through the city of Marina. The project will affect 1.7 miles of Imjin Parkway from Reservation Road to Imjin Road and will include the construction of four roundabouts and increase the stretch of roadway to four lanes.
Marina is the lead agency for the project which is also the second regional Transportation Agency for Monterey County Measure X project to be built.
Work on the bike path and roadway section of Imjin Parkway between Preston and Abrams drives continued as well as the importing of material to construct fill slope between Abrams and Marina Heights drives over the last two weeks. Construction also centered on the continued forming and placing of concrete for median curbs along Imjin Parkway between Preston and Abrams drives. Workers striped and reset forms for the concrete retaining wall near Abrams Drive, and there was the monitoring of contractor activities and maintenance of the perimeter fencing, as well as the removal of existing pavement west of Marina Heights Drive.
In the next two weeks, workers will strip and set the formwork for the concrete retaining wall near Abrams Drive and place concrete for portions of the wall. Importing material will continue for the construction of the fill slope between Abrams and Marina Heights drives. The setting of forms for the concrete retaining wall near Marina Heights Drive will begin, and the environmental monitoring of contractor activities job-wide will continue.
Upcoming tasks in the near future include the continued installation of underground utilities for irrigation, street lighting and fiber conduits, along with the completion of earthwork to construct fill slopes between Abrams and Marina Heights drives. Work will also include completing the forming and concrete for retaining walls near Abrams and Marina Heights drives. Grading operations for the roadway section between Reservation Road and Abrams Drive will also continue.
The project’s $40.5 million in funding sources include $2 million from Marina generated from development impact fees, $18.25 million from Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s Measure X and $20.25 million from California’s SB1 local partnership program.
Measure X was the November 2016 ballot measure that was approved by 67.7% of Monterey County voters for the Transportation Agency’s Transportation Safety and Investment Plan.
The measure is anticipated to generate an estimated $20 million annually for a total of $600 million over 30 years through a retail transactions and use tax of a three-eighths’ of one percent to fund transportation safety and mobility projects in Monterey County.
California’s Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, SB1, created the Local Partnership Program and continuously appropriates $200 million annually from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account to local and regional transportation agencies that have sought and received voter approval of taxes or that have imposed fees, which taxes or fees are dedicated solely for transportation improvements.
Upon completion of the project, the Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project will provide transit and pedestrian improvements, add on-street buffered bike lanes, stormwater treatment areas, retaining walls and a sound wall.
The improvements will benefit commuters who travel through the corridor, as well as those who live along Imjin Parkway at Cal State Monterey Bay and the neighboring homes in Marina Heights, Sea Haven and Preston Park.
