Traffic is being impacted by two road projects - one on Mitchell Road and the other on Whitmore Avenue both east and west of Morgan Road.
Grinding work is being done on Mitchell Road which is being improved with a $741,629 contract for an overlay awarded to Knife River Construction. The new work will resurface Mitchell Road from Whitmore Avenue to Roeding Road. In recent years the city of Ceres has accomplished the resurfacing of Mitchell Road from the Tuolumne River bridge to Whitmore Avenue.
The overlay will be similar to the 2013 overlay involving rubberized asphalt. A $50,000 grant from Cal Recycle encouraged the city to go with the more expensive rubberized asphalt. The Mitchell Road project began in October but has been suspended due to weather and temperature requirements. The project is scheduled to be completed in the spring.
On the west side of Ceres, work is in progress to widen Whitmore Avenue from Morgan Road to Blaker Road as well as widen the intersection of Whitmore and Morgan. The project was awarded to George Reed in September and involves the installation of approximately 740 linear feet of 24-inch storm drain, 1,090 linear feet of 8-inch sewer pipe, 230 linear feet of six-inch sewer/water services including the widening and overlay of Whitmore Avenue from Blaker Road to Morgan Road. Some widening will take place on Morgan Road north of Whitmore Avenue to accommodate the traffic signal installation that is being done under a separate contract. The project should be completed soon.
The improvements to the intersection of Whitmore and Morgan are being done by Tim Paxin's Pacific Excavation. The intersection has existing temporary traffic signals hanging from cables and lines and the current layout is not at its ultimate location and doesn't allow truck turn movements to flow easily. Improvements will include moving traffic signal and curb ramps to their ultimate position within the right-of-way, allowing for easy flow of traffic, new sidewalk, curb, gutter, restriping and lane lines and new traffic signal poles.
