Downtown Merced road work to result in one-way traffic, additional parking

Rolling street closures and detours will continue in downtown Merced into June as part of a $1 million street improvement and roadway directional change project.

The closures will affect West Main Street from R Street to M Street and from Martin Luther King Jr. Way to G Street, as well as along 18th Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Way to N Street.

City of Merced Spokesperson Jennifer Flachman said the rolling closures allow crews to work on sealing cracks in the roadway before doing a slurry seal. Sections of West Main Street and West 18th Street will remain closed Friday, May 30.

The closures will affect access to parking along the streets. On Friday, May 30, West 18th Street from M Street to N Street will be fully closed, said the City of Merced, and will include restricted access to the Shannon Parcade.

The project is expected to be completed by early July and will result in one-way traffic along West Main Street from O Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

A full closure of 18th Street between N and M Streets in front of the Merced Civic Center and the UC Merced Downtown Center will take place on Friday, May 30, Flachman said. A full closure of 16th Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Way to M Street is expected to take place on Monday, June 2.

The city said future closings will occur on West Main Street from M Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way in order to repair the crosswalk at West Main Street and Canal Streets and to complete the directional change. Additional traffic delays can be expected downtown in mid June, to allow for work on the project’s final phase.

Resurfacing work has progressed along West Main Street which saw the project expand to a grind and overlay replacement of asphalt after potholes were found beneath the street’s parking stalls, said City of Merced Assistant Engineer Rom Robinson. Further excavation revealed the street was too damaged for basic patching.

Additional resurfacing and striping is planned for 18th Street from N Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way and along West Main Street from R Street to G Street

“It’s going to look like a brand new road,” Robinson said. “Technically, it won’t be a brand new road, it’s just resurfaced. It extends the longevity of the road exponentially.”

Once the Main Street and Canal Street intersection work is complete, Flachman said motorists can expect to see rolling closures about June 9 to facilitate the one-way directional change and striping.

Diagonal parking will extend along Main Street from H Street to P Street, with one-way diagonal parking from O Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Flachman said one-way traffic will begin on O Street and continue to Martin Luther King Jr. Way with the permanent one-way direction change scheduled to take place sometime in July, about mid summer.

Flachman said four new ADA compliant parking spaces will be added on N and M streets, between M and Canal streets, at Main and Canal streets and between Canal and K streets. Plans also call for diagonal parking along one side of 18th Street between M Street and K Street.

Additional information and updates can be found on the City of Merced’s Downtown Roadway and Directional Change Project webpage.