GARDEN GROVE : Street Repairs Will Start Next Week

Construction crews next week will begin a $1.7-million project to repair several deteriorating streets.

The work will be done one street at a time for the convenience of motorists. Completion is expected in September.

Workers will kick off the project on Tuesday on a mile-long stretch of Brookhurst Street between Chapman and Katella avenues.

When that section is done, work will move to the south end of Brookhurst Street, from Hazard to Trask avenues.

Next will be Western Avenue from Lampson to Chapman avenues, Garden Grove Boulevard between Brookhurst and Euclid streets, and Century Boulevard from Garden Grove Boulevard to Euclid Street.

Some streets are in such poor condition that the pavement will have to be removed and replaced with new asphalt, City Engineer Bill Patapoff said.

Patapoff said the city aggressively pursued a grant last year from the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to fund 88% of the project. The city will pay the remaining $200,000.

The city won the award before rainstorms further damaged the streets, making repairs all the more imperative, Patapoff said. The All American Asphalt company of Corona is doing the work.

The city has a number of other street projects in store for the coming months, including construction of right-turn lanes on Harbor Boulevard and Trask Avenue, near the Garden Grove Freeway, which will cost about $1 million.

The work aimed at eliminating bottlenecks caused by motorists entering or leaving the freeway is expected to start this summer.

In addition, Traffic Engineer Paul Grimm is working with officials from adjoining cities to coordinate traffic signals with a goal of smoothing out traffic flow and reducing pollution by vehicles idling at red lights.

Cities are working together to upgrade master computers that control traffic regionally, officials said.

Grimm said that when the work is completed in about 18 months, there will be a 75% to 80% probability that motorists can go from Garden Grove to the beach without encountering a single red light if they travel at recommended speeds.