COUNTY TO BEGIN REPAIRS AT SCENIC ROAD
Repairs will begin this week on a section of Carmel's main waterfront drive, Scenic Road, which was undermined during last month's barrage of winter storms.
The County of Monterey Public Works, Facilities and Parks will start restoring the stretch of damaged road on Tuesday. Mending infrastructure both along and below the roadway, repairs are expected to last about 10 weeks.
While construction is underway, Scenic will be closed to through traffic from Valley View Avenue to the entrance of Carmel River State Beach at Carmelo Street, according to Enrique Saavedra, Monterey County Chief of Public Works. Actual repairs, however, will focus on a smaller portion of the roadway, Saavedra said, where ground underneath is in danger of giving way.
Damages were primarily caused by storm surge. Saavedra explained that severe weather at the start of the year brought repeated bouts of large waves to the beachfront slope that Scenic Road runs along. With the waves came erosion, exposing utilities housed in the road's supportive slope while causing asphalt above to crumble. The damage forced the Carmel Area Wastewater District to shut off water and sewage for a few houses close to the undermined slice of Scenic. (The Wastewater District has since rerouted an affected sewer line to avoid the risk of sewage spill out onto Carmel River State Beach.)
Meanwhile, over the last few weeks, county consultants have been working on a plan to fix the impaired road. The best solution, they found, would be to install a soil-nail wall. According to a press release from the county, the wall would entail driving 15- to 30-foot nails into Scenic's undermined slope to anchor and hold a mesh cover. Together, the nails and mesh would, hopefully, contain sand and material under the roadway.
Saavedra said the repairs will likely take $2.2 million to complete. Those costs will ultimately be covered by federal disaster relief funds made available to the county last month, Saavedra explained.
After a seemingly relentless stream of storms battered the state from Dec. 27 into weeks of the new year, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in several counties hit particularly hard by the barrage of weather, including Monterey County. The move triggered the release of the federal funds to supplement state and local storm recovery efforts. Locally, Monterey County officials estimated that storm damages to the region would likely top $120 million.
The initial emergency declaration for Monterey County qualified it for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding under two categories, related to debris removal and emergency protective measures, as well as individual assistance for community members and businesses. Days after federal aid was made available to the region, county officials requested additional help from FEMA to cover
permanent repairs to roads and bridges, water control facilities, buildings and equipment, utilities, and parks and recreation.
The county qualified for the additional relief on Jan. 26, allowing projects like the repairs at Scenic Road to be eligible for reimbursement.
While costs are covered, there are a few other complications to consider with fixing Scenic Road. Namely, the project itself is a complicated feat.
“What's challenging here is that there's a lot of factors to consider,” Saavedra said. Those factors include: Scenic's proximity to the ocean and any environmental concerns tied to that; the potential impact construction could have on homes within the project area; the network of utilities located within the slope; and crews' overall work footprint.
Above all else, Saavedra pointed to the project's durability through future wave action, noting that “we have to repair the road in a way that not only protects the road today, but also keeps it safe from potential wave action in upcoming months.”
Still, looking at durability for years to come, the county's project beginning Tuesday is a temporary fix to a larger erosion problem that could plague Scenic Road later down the road.
“The project is temporary in the sense of it not being the ultimate solution for the whole block of Scenic Road,” said Saavedra. “The project addresses the erosion that happened in one spot, but there's potential for erosion on either side. …
It would take a larger project to (address) the whole slope beneath Scenic Road in danger of erosion.”
For now, the county will focus on immediate needs to get the road up and running.
As repairs go on, project hours will stretch from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Traffic control will be in place through the project. Carmel River State Beach will remain open while Scenic Road is repaired, though the beach's parking lot will be closed to store construction equipment.