VENTURA : Despite Rains, Work Continues Downtown

Despite heavy rains that buckled the Main Street Bridge and caused a landslide in La Conchita, the downtown renovation work under way in Ventura is only days behind schedule, a city official said Monday.

New sidewalks and street lamps already have been installed along the north side of Main Street between Fir and Chestnut streets, but other work has been slowed because of the rain, said city planner Pat Richardson, who is directing the renovation.

“They’ve put a few more people on their crews and they’ve started work a little earlier (in the evenings),” Richardson said of the contractors.

The $3.5-million renovation is the city’s latest attempt to revitalize Ventura’s commercial core, which last year accounted for more than $50 million in retail sales.

The project includes widening the sidewalks to 13 feet to allow for patio dining, replacing trees, repaving many downtown roads and installing street lamps.

Under terms of the contract, Berry Construction is given allowances for each day its crews are not able to work.

Original schedules called for the company to complete the improvements one block at a time. But by demolishing two blocks at a time, Richardson said, the crews will be able to make up time lost to inclement weather.

“The demolition is probably one of the hardest parts because they have to take out all the concrete and the water and sewer lines,” said Richardson, who added that the project is still on target for an early July completion.

“Technically they’re off schedule because they’re given an allowance for rain days,” he said. “But they have told us privately . . . that they want to finish the project on time.”