Merced street work ongoing through July

About $1.8 million in street upgrades will continue on M and R streets in Merced until about mid-July.

The streets, which are down to one lane in certain sections, were earmarked for improvements last year because they are two of the city’s most used roadways.

Merced City Council took the advice of city staff last spring and went forward with approving the rehabilitation of M Street from Loughborough Drive to Yosemite Avenue, the larger and more expensive project, and R Street from 18th to 20th streets.

Mike Conway, Merced’s spokesman, said drivers should not see delays as one lane remains open on each street.

M Street is designated as an arterial road, and R Street is considered a minor arterial. City staff said those statuses made M and R streets priorities over other streets in worse condition.

The work on R Street also includes the replacement of a water main. That section of road will be completely closed for two weeks, but it remains unclear when the crew will do that.

“This section of road bottlenecks at 19th Street and to perform the construction work while having traffic driving by would have been hazardous to the workers and the drivers,” Conway said in an email. “The shutdown will shorten the project by three weeks, improve worker safety and save some dollars.”

The money for the projects comes from an already approved fund for capital improvements, which drew cash from Measure C, gas taxes and the Regional Surface Transportation Program Exchange Fund.

B, G and V streets have been identified by city staff as roads that need work, but the city can’t afford to do all of the projects.

Madera-based Avison Construction Inc. was awarded the renovation job in December.

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Merced street work ongoing through July."