SAN JOSE — The city’s extensive downtown street changes have hit a perfect storm that will delay work for another five months and make driving near Highway 87, Julian Street and surrounding roadways a slow, torturous trek into the summer.

San Jose officials had hoped to finish the street work by the end of last year to accommodate a big development aimed at transforming what the city calls downtown’s most blighted area into a place where people want to live, work and walk.

But problems began when road crews discovered an underground fuel tank near Julian and 87. That had to go. But taking it out messed up traffic signal connections. Then last month, city officials learned that $5 million in expected grant funds needed to complete the $24.2 million roadwork might not materialize until later this year.

Then there were this winter’s heavy rains, faded lane lines and changes to the northbound ramp to Highway 87 in the North San Pedro area. Even motorists who have traveled the area for years have been bewildered.

“What used to be an easy on-ramp to 87 has become a total mess,” said Matt Schechter of San Jose.

Paula Schnur, who has lived in downtown San Jose for 21 years, said that she has never seen traffic so bad as it is now after the reroute of the freeway entrance and surrounding streets.

“It used to take me 5 minutes to get from Basset and 2nd to Henry’s Hi-life for work,” she said. “It now takes 15 minutes.”

The city is realigning streets between 87 to the west, St. James to the south, Market to the east and the Union Pacific tracks to the north. One-way streets are being turned into two-lane roads as part of the huge development to add 1,150 housing and 480 rental units.

“The city has been pursuing two-way travel on St. James and Julian based on community feedback and the desire to have downtown streets be more people-oriented,” said Jessica Zenk, a manager with the city’s Department of Transportation. “Two-way streets are generally easier to navigate than one-way streets, particularly for visitors, and are more comfortable for pedestrians, as typically along two-way streets traffic moves more slowly and ground-floor retail businesses do better.”

Reading this on your iPhone or iPad? Check out our new Apple News app channel here and click the + at the top of the page to save to your Apple News favorites.

The city had applied in July for funding to undertake the project through the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s One Bay Area Grant program. But city officials learned before Christmas that it was not being recommended for a grant, as there were more needy projects than available cash. City officials, however, expect VTA to approve the grant in an upcoming round of funding to finish the project.

Removing the fuel tank meant some traffic signals had to be put on recall, which is something drivers don’t want to hear. Normally, cameras and sensors detect the presence of vehicles at intersections and give them a green light if no other cars are waiting to move. When the system defaults to recall because of damage to the sensors, the signals cycle green lights equally around the intersection even where no cars are waiting to pass through, causing delays.

Construction manager Brent Erkel said recall ensures that vehicles will eventually get a green light even if the sensors are damaged — otherwise “a motorist could sit on a damaged loop and the signal would not give them a green light to move through the intersection.” But he acknowledged that “when some of the phases are returned to normal function, the management of traffic will be significantly improved.”

That is starting to happen, but it could be April before a new traffic signal is turned on at Terraine Street and St. James and Julian to improve the flow of traffic. Then add a couple of months to finish it all.

“Unfortunately,” Erkel said, “the trip times will be longer until all the civil and signal work is completed.”

For now, city officials just ask drivers to be patient. But for many, that’s a big ask.

“Driving downtown is normally very confusing,” said motorist Margaret Hardy. “But now with the construction it is downright baffling.”

The North San Pedro project currently under construction includes the realignment of St. James and Julian streets west of Market. With the realignment, St. James will serve as the primary connection to downtown from 87.

Terraine Street will be extended to St. James Street, Devine Street to Terraine, and the conversion of West St. James from a one-way, eastbound street to a two-way street from 87 to Market Street.

Source: City of San Jose