The Willow Glen Resident Council Watch Storm drain project will slow bridge traffic until November Bigger pipes should ease the post-storm 'ponding' effects By Michelle Ku Construction crews in Willow Glen have become a norm with the roadway work on Kotenberg and Warren avenues and Willow Glen Way, but there's a new group of workmen on the roads these days. Since Sept. 26, crews have begun a storm-drain project that will build an outflow channel by the bridge on Willow Glen Way and replace pipes carrying water to Guadalupe Creek. Work on the project is in progress on the Willow Glen Way bridge and on the portion of Lincoln Avenue between Willow Glen Way and Nevada Place. The project is to upgrade the capacity of the storm-drain system in the Willow Glen area. "We're upgrading pipe sizes. We'll be able to carry more water so there will be less 'ponding' on the street after a storm. The water will go into the creek sooner," said Mike Mikasa, project manager and associate civil engineer with Public Works Design and Construction. In addition to replacing the storm drains with larger ones, workers are constructing an outfall at the bridge on Willow Glen Way. An outfall is a pipe that collects water from the storm-drain system then channels it into a creek. Signs have been posted along Willow Glen Way informing residents that through traffic will not be allowed until Nov. 2, but traffic will be allowed to cross the bridge. "I believe they will just be closing a portion of the road. They will have flagmen diverting traffic around the work, allowing traffic through," Mikasa said. Willow Glen Way will be closed to through traffic when crews are doing construction work on the bridge and placing pipes on the portion of Willow Glen Way from the bridge to Bird Avenue. Because the pipe will be in the middle of the street, the road would be a little tight to have traffic flowing on either side, Mikasa said. The road will be closed for about a week beginning sometime this week, but it will be open for local access. Public Works is coordinating with River Glen Elementary School to make sure there will not be any disruptions in the school bus service. The road and the bridge will always be open at night. When traffic is not allowed, drivers will have to go north to Alma Avenue or south to Malone Road to cross the river, Mikasa said. Almaden Road resident June Cooley said that despite Public Works' efforts, traffic is still being impacted by the construction. "I'm getting on Bird all the way on Malone, when normally I would just get on Bird from Willow Glen Way. Traffic was backed up. You saw the effect at Malone, with a lot more cars waiting, and in other places it backs up, too," Cooley said. Chris Ching, an engineer in the transportation division of Public Works, does not anticipate any traffic problems caused by the closure. "Willow Glen Way is a residential street. It's not a major thoroughfare," he said. While signs say that traffic will not be allowed through until Nov. 2, Mikasa believes that work on the bridge area will be completed before that date. "As it's going now, [work is] going fairly smoothly. It shouldn't take up that time until Nov. 2. That's a conservative date," he said. After the outfall is completed, construction crews will move along Willow Glen Way to Bird Avenue. Then they will cut over on Bird, moving south, to Parkside Avenue. Crews will then work along Parkside between Bird and Jonathan Avenue. Other areas where pipes will be replaced are a portion of Juanita Avenue between Willow Glen Way and Louise Avenue, half of Louise between Juanita and Lincoln, and a portion of Ellis Avenue. When construction work is done on the smaller streets, Juanita, Louise and Ellis, the roads will be closed to traffic, but flagmen will help guide residents in and out from their homes as necessary. Work on the smaller streets should begin in four to six weeks, Mikasa said. The entire storm-drain project should be completed by early January. The outfall being constructed by the Willow Glen Way bridge is a temporary one. A permanent outfall will be constructed when the bridge is replaced during the summer of 2000. "If we didn't build the temporary outfall, the water wouldn't have a place to go. It wouldn't discharge into the creek," Mikasa said. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, October 14, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.