Streetlight project to start next week

Work will start Monday on repairs to La Jolla’s aging streetlight system, Tiffany Sherer, executive director of Promote La Jolla said Wednesday.

Following a pre-construction meeting on Wednesday morning with city engineers and the contractor, she said she was very pleased to find that the contractor is willing to work with merchants to avoid having streets in the Village torn up during the holidays.

“It won’t stop or delay the project,” she added.

For the first few days, the crew from HMS Construction Inc. of Vista - the low bidder at about $675,000, according to the city’s Web site - will survey the project area along Prospect between Genter Street and Torrey Pines Road.

That’s where they will install new circuitry for 81 lights in the gutters along with three new streetlights. The new system will connect the lights in a series of circuits instead of a single one.

By mid-week, construction will start at Torrey Pines Road and Prospect Place, working towards Cave Street, Sherer said.

Once workers reach Cave Street, the crews will shift to La Jolla Boulevard and the alley south of Sea Lane. They’ll then work their way north into the business district, Sherer said, noting that the entire project is scheduled for 120 days.

It’s been two months since the bids were opened, she noted. “It’s amazing - fast and great work and we’ve got a contractor reaady to start work on Monday.”

Promote La Jolla President Deborah Marengo has compared the old system to a string of Christmas lights where when one light bulb goes out they all go out.