WATSONVILLE—Work to modernize early day underground sewer lines on Freedom Boulevard and water lines on Green Valley Road is still in high gear, with some of it taking place at night.
Patrice Theriot, principal engineer for the City of Watsonville, said the upgrades call for equipment, crews and traffic reconfigurations to take place during daylight hours as well.
The sewer line work is currently unfolding on Freedom Boulevard between Green Valley Road and Airport Boulevard. Some of that work calls for open trenches that stretch along Freedom Boulevard. Those trenches are often covered with large steel plates. Theriot urged the public to drive cautiously and to slow down in the area.
Additionally, there is the water line project that will eventually run underground pipes across Freedom Boulevard north on Green Valley Road to where Corralitos Creek crosses Green Valley Road behind the Freedom Centre, which houses Safeway.
Theriot said crews are working to save time and money by “punching” a new sewer line through the existing one. Most of the water line work is being done at night. That project calls for around 1,700 linear feet of new pipes.
Once the lines are installed, that section of Green Valley Road will get new pavement, from Carey Road up to Corralitos Creek, Theriot said. The paving could begin by late summer, weather permitting.
“We know there’s a lot of work going on and people can get frustrated,” Theriot said. “We’re dealing with an older section of our system and it just happens there are a lot of lines concentrated in this area.”
