By Isiah REYES

The City of Glendale Public Works Dept. has completed a project at the intersection of Verdugo Road and Honolulu Avenue to make the intersection safer and more functional.

The scope of the work included traffic signal upgrades and modifications, installation of new striping and pavement markings, realignment of roadway and travel lanes, reconstruction of sidewalks, curbs, gutters, driveways, and center islands, and reconstruction of asphalt concrete pavement.

“The overall purpose of the federal funding program for this project is to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads through the implementation of infrastructure-related highway safety improvements,” said Roubik Golanian, director of Public Works and city engineer at the City of Glendale. “The Honolulu and Verdugo intersection had also become congested during peak hours, creating inefficiency that resulted in vehicular and pedestrian delays and frustration.”

On Jan. 21, the Glendale City Council adopted the plans and specifications for the Verdugo Road and Honolulu Avenue Intersection Improvements Project and authorized the city clerk to advertise for bids. The bid of Pima Corporation in the amount of $634,422.75 was 8% below the engineer’s estimate of $690,715. Upon review of the bid documents, Pima Corporation was found to be the lowest responsible bidder and it was selected.

The construction start date was June 5. One of the major challenges during the construction was to reduce the impact to traffic. Melinda Clarke, executive director of the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce, said that even though the traffic was affected during construction, access to the Montrose Shopping Park remained open and she was grateful for that.

The only major problem from the construction occurred when the contractor accidentally drilled through a water main while boring for underground traffic signal conduits. Despite the incident, the project was substantially completed in time, in four months.

But the shopping park merchants seemed to take the construction in stride.

“There haven’t been any complaints from the merchants except there was a problem with all the dust,” said Andre Ordubegian, president of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. He said that a couple of merchants said that the dust was an issue but he added that it seems like the city has taken care of that.

People who are at the intersection will notice that new street lights have been added for safety, pedestrian walking distances have been shortened, the old sweeping right lane has been reconfigured to reduce speeds, and there has been an installation of curb ramps for disabled people with wheelchairs to have easier mobility.

  Isiah REYES