Oceanside CA- After years of planning, the Mission Avenue Improvement Project is about to become a reality in downtown Oceanside. During the next few weeks, notification signs will be going up along Mission Ave and Seagaze Drive, telling drivers of the changes in traffic flow that will occur around October 24th.
Nathan Mertz, with City of Oceanside, spoke to people attending the ‘Main Street Oceanside’ monthly morning meeting to explain the impact on downtown businesses. Mertz said signage will be up for several weeks for the traffic changes but the change to traffic patterns will occur “practically overnight”. He also spoke to local business owners concerns over disruptions to their businesses during the project. Dust and detours will be the rule for the next several months but the city will make sure all businesses are accessible and disruptions kept to a minimum. Signs will be in place and flyers sent out letting people know that downtown is open for business during the construction.
In the Mission Avenue Improvement Couplet Project, Mission Avenue will become a one-way street, west-bound and Seagaze, one-way east-bound to Clementine where traffic is routed back to Mission and I-5 access. The reduction of a four lane, two-way street, to a one-way street will not add lanes for traffic flow. Instead, the two lanes westbound will accommodate new, wider sidewalks, a green-line shared traffic bike-way that will link to the San Luis Rey Bike Trail and new landscaping. Approximately 6 new parking spaces will be gained with the new reverse angle parking scheme.
The project, designed to re-invigorate the downtown area East of the Coast Highway is contracted to West Coast General, for 160 days and six phases.