Downtown Palm Springs safety construction project creates congestion

A safety project is now underway in downtown Palm Springs, closing lanes and increasing traffic.

Drivers downtown can expect to see weeks of delays, with two of the three lanes closed on Palm Canyon Drive at the La Plaza shopping center intersection. The city is adding steel safety bollards — poles that retract in and out of the ground — blocking cars from driving onto the sidewalk and keeping pedestrians safe during festivals and parades.

“Safety is a good thing,” said Palm Springs resident Tim Ritter. “Safety on Palm Canyon Drive – where we have a lot of tourism and commerce for our town. A lot of money comes through here and we want to take care of everybody.”

“It’s tough to close up traffic anywhere, doesn’t matter where you’re at,” said Dean Holland, a construction worker working on the project.

And traffic is not the only concern — the project has some store owners wondering how it’s going to affect their business.

“All the shops are gonna be affected when you deal with traffic like this,” said Kris Weinshilboub, owner of the business Bungalow 17 Studio. “We’re in the middle of summer where we’re fighting for every customer we can possibly get. It all comes kind of at a difficult time.”

Palm Springs Assistant City Manager Marcus Fuller said he timed the project to minimize such impacts.

“We specifically waited until this point in time during the middle of the summer, which is the lowest of our tourist season to avoid impacts to traffic,” Fuller said. “Public safety comes first.”

Residents are understanding and grateful for a safer community.

“(It’s) just for the greater good of the community and residents and tourists that spend money in shops to make them the most safe that they can be.”

Lanes will be closed on Palm Canyon through the middle of August.