Construction at Monterey and Fred Waring near COD to affect traffic

More construction woes for Desert commuters. For the next month, Monterey will be down to one lane in each direction near the College of the Desert while crew work to widen the street.

“It sucks,” said a local driver. “It’s pretty terrible.”

Cars backed up in both directions on Fred Warning and Monterey Friday. The busy intersection was turned into a four way stop while crews laid pipe underground.

“It’s ridiculous, we are going to a movie so it’s kind of crazy,” said driver Kassidy Jackman.

The blinking red traffic lights wore down people’s patience.

“It sucks, it really does,” said a local driver. “It just slows everything down.”

It also caused some confusion for drivers. Our crew heard several honking cars and witnessed a few close calls; and it’s expected to get worse. The traffic lights are expected to be working again, but Monday all traffic will be shifted to the southbound lanes on Monterey. Northbound will be closed between Gran Via and Fred Waring Drive. On Monterey, traffic will be down to one lane in each direction for the next 30 days.

“Wow, that is really really bad,” said driver Serigo Garica.

Some people we spoke with would rather be inconvenienced, than the middle of the season.

“This is much better than doing it during the season, much, much better, during season it is absolutely insane around here so this is ok,” said driver Fred Kellerhals.

“If it is going to make the streets better, then ultimately I am ok with it,” said Ted Zepeda.

The best way to avoid this mess is to use an alternative route, either Cook Street or Bob Hope Drive.