Broadway Repair Project to Change Downtown Traffic Patterns

Downtown commuters and pedestrians who regularly use Broadway--one of the city’s busiest streets--are in for a surprise next week.

Starting Monday and lasting for at least a year, officials say, eastbound vehicular traffic--including about 20 different bus lines--will be diverted from downtown portions of Broadway and pedestrians will be inconvenienced as work crews begin a long-awaited major improvement project along the bustling thoroughfare.

Officials said that lines carrying an estimated 60,000 bus passengers a day will have to be rerouted.

“There will be some inconvenience to everybody: traffic, pedestrians, businesses,” said Tony Bettinelli, a project officer with the San Diego engineering and development department.

Handed Out Flyers

For the last week, the Metropolitan Transit Development Board has been handing out flyers to bus passengers informing them of the changes. Starting Monday, eastbound buses using Broadway between 6th and 13th avenues will be rerouted one block south to E Street; private cars and other eastbound traffic on Broadway will also be directed to E Street.

For the first day or two, officials said, transit employees will be at the regular bus stops on Broadway informing commuters of the switch. The bus stops along the affected stretch of Broadway will be temporarily moved to E Street.

“We’re doing what we can to advise all commuters,” said Judy Leitner, a spokeswoman for the transit board.

Westbound traffic will continue on Broadway. Workers are to keep two lanes of the street open to accommodate the westbound vehicles.

$3-Million Project

The $3-million project, to be funded largely with federal money, is primarily aimed at improving bus traffic along the East-West thoroughfare by completely rebuilding the roadway between 4th and 12th avenues. However, workers will also improve sidewalks, street lighting, drainage, and will construct new bus shelters and seating for waiting commuters.

“The substructure of the road (Broadway) is completely gone,” said Francisco Zepeda, a city civil engineer.

Although sidewalks will be worked on, pedestrian traffic will not be barred during construction, officials said. At all times, officials said, workmen have been instructed to leave swaths of sidewalk open for walkers and shoppers.

The project, Zepeda said, will proceed in two phases: The first, beginning Monday and lasting about seven months, involves improvements along Broadway between 6th and 12th avenues; the second phase, expected to last about five months, involves construction between 4th and 6th avenues. Before receiving City Council approval in August, the project had been in the planning stages more than two years, and was the subject of numerous hearings and studies.

Merchants Concerned

Merchants have expressed concern about the impact on their businesses, noted Ron Oliver, executive vice president of the Central City Assn., a downtown business group. Studies in other cities have shown that such work can reduce downtown business by 25% or so, he said.

To mitigate such effects, he explained, his group plans to print signs and take out advertisements informing shoppers that, despite the construction, stores have not closed. “People have to know that the businesses are still open,” said Oliver.

As for the project itself, he expressed hope that it would ultimately help downtown businesses by making Broadway more attractive and easing vehicular traffic.

“I don’t think we have a whole lot of choice,” Oliver said, noting the dilapidated state of some stretches of Broadway. “I think it’s an excellent project.”