Changes are coming to a major intersection in El Cajon.
Last week, the city began the first phase of the El Cajon Boulevard Roundabout and Streetscape Project.
The city said the $6.2-million project, divided into six phases, will revitalize the transit district. It will bring crosswalks, new landscaping and lights to the area. It will also add a roundabout to improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of accidents near the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and Johnson Avenue.
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“It’s a busy intersection. Very busy intersections,” Cunningham said.
Marla Cunningham’s California Registration business sits on El Cajon Boulevard. She said some drivers zoom by too fast, sometimes ending in tragic accidents.
“There’s a couple of deaths that occurred because of the speed that everybody gets or they crash coming down the road, so I think that’s one of the reasons the city wanted to do it,” Cunningham said.
She said since construction started last week, her storefront looks much different.
“We have no traffic. We have nobody coming by … people don’t know that we have parking in the rear for our clients,” Cunningham said.
Ohanees Kandelyan owns a Liquor store on that street. He said he has witnessed many accidents during his time there.
“Six seven accidents … one of them, my car,” Kandelyan said.
The city said construction could last anywhere between 8 to 12 months.
Cunningham said she hopes the project is completed soon in order to resume business as usual, and so that she can see something she already misses, her customers.
The city said they received a $2.5-million grant through SANDAG’s Smart Growth Incentive Program and an additional 250,000 grant from the San Diego River Conservancy.
