Imjin Parkway project pushes Preston Drive reopening to late October

MARINA – A delay in relocating Pacific Gas and Electric equipment will further push back the reopening of Preston Drive to late October as part of the Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project in Marina, officials said recently.

Pacific Gas and Electric is scheduled to install new poles in the next few days but the work to move the lines to the new poles and remove the old poles has been pushed back to Oct. 5, says an update from the city of Marina. Once the old poles have been removed, the contractor can complete the remaining work to allow for the reopening of Preston Drive.

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. Construction began Feb. 12 and is anticipated to complete by the end of June 2026.

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.

The Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout project’s dual-walled HDPE pipe sections for the Army’s treatedgroundwater system. (City of Marina)

In the past two weeks, the Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project has worked on concrete retaining wall construction – strip and load out forms – near Abrams Drive, continued the grading and placing of base rock material for the roadway section between Abrams Drive and Imjin Road, as well as continued grading and placing base material for the bike path section between Abrams and Marina Heights drives. The project also continued preparing material on the south side of Imjin Parkway for hauling which has been delayed until PG&E verifies an affected gas line is an abandoned line. Workers fused, installed and tested dual-walled pipe for the Army’s treated groundwater piping system, formed and placed a concrete curb and gutter and extruded a concrete median curb for sections between Abrams and Marina Heights drives, while continuing grading work for the roadway and bike path area at the top of Marina Heights Drive.

Night work is anticipated in order to pave a transition roadway west of Preston Drive, according to the city’s update. This transition will move traffic from the new roadway west of Preston Drive back over to the existing traffic lanes on the south side of the concrete barriers. This work is tentatively scheduled for the week of Oct. 7 but could be impacted by the delay in PG&E work. The city of Marina said it will provide more specific information when dates and times are scheduled.

Planned future work includes Pacific Gas and Electric removing old poles between Reservation Road and Preston Drive now scheduled for Oct. 5, backfilling the retaining wall near Abrams Drive, paving the bike path from Reservation Road to the west side of Preston Drive once the PG&E relocation has been completed.

The Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout 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 approved by 67.7% of Monterey County voters for the Transportation Agency’s Transportation Safety and Investment Plan.

To stay informed about the Imjin Parkway Widening and Roundabout Project, visit the project website at www.imjinparkway.com or contact Edrie De Los Santos, city of Marina, at 831-884-1212.