Brawley Main Street renovations estimated to begin in 2023

BRAWLEY — New grant money and funds will be put into replacing the infrastructure under the main street in Brawley. The project is approximated to begin at the start of 2023.

Mayor of the City of Brawley Sam Couchman offered his insight on the history and importance of this project.

“We took over Main Street from the State of California before I even came on as a city councilman and they gave us a certain amount of money to rehab that street. At that time it was also money to rehab the old 111 section that runs out towards Calipat and the bypass coming in made all of that possible,” said Couchman. 

Couchman continued to explain the logistics of the street plans and who controls them. 

“What happened was we took over that section of 111 going out towards Calipat and we took over the main street from the four corners there where McDonald’s is all the way east from there, CalTrans still controls that corner, they control everything west on 86, we control where McDonald’s is all the way east to the bypass,” said Couchman. 

The main street is in need of replacing the old water pipes under the street before the City could repave a new road. According to Couchman, the funds given originally were to refurbish the roadway itself, not the infrastructure. Couchman also says it has probably been close to 100 years since the original water pipes under Main Street were put in place.

“Because of the need to replace those water pipes and some of the infrastructures there under the street, we never did a re-pavement job. We have done patches and other things there. We haven’t done a real re-pavement program for that street,” explained Couchman. 

The funds for this project have been collected and saved throughout the years. Now with the grant money coming in, the City of Brawley can begin working from the bottom up to repave the street. 

“In 2023, what we are going to do with a combination of that money we were given by the state and the money we are going to receive in some grants, we are going to redo some of the infrastructures under the street. We are going to repave everything, restore everything and that will all be redone,” said Couchman.

Couchman explained the public works department will know the exact areas being worked on and the details of the project. 

“It is going to be a multimillion-dollar project, people have been asking for it for a long time, people thought we spent the money and we have not and we have grant money now to do the underground, so it is going to impact travel on the main street and it will result in some detours, there may be some street closures because that is a major undertaking for us,” stated Couchman. 

At this time there is no exact date the project will begin, however it will be during the next year and the weather and economy might factor in some delays in the project. 

“It is slated to be done and completed in 2023. There could be delays with contracts, as you know prices are going up quickly, so we have the grant funding and the money the state provided but prices have been jumping and that is always an impact to us and it may require we put some city money in there, but its gotta be done,” said Couchman. 

The City of Brawley will be expecting some street closures around the area.

“It will a positive but also a short-term challenge. As we move through sections they may require longer closures and there may be other detours, so we ask the public to bear with us as we move through this process,” said Couchman.