ViewPoints by Timothy M. Flaherty: Pleasant Hill roadway, sign improvements to begin

Pleasant Hill keeps 'marching' along. The recent rainfall has made our hillsides awash with green, even in this drought year of 2014. St Patrick's Day beckons and some people will be donning the green.

It is also the month where you will likely see the start of some major city projects costing a total of $33 million. That's definitely a lot of green!

I am not sure the luck of the Irish has anything to do with this (though I am the grandson of Irish immigrants) but nearly 90 percent or more than $30 million of the project construction costs are being paid from regional, state and federal grants and not the city's general fund.

Other communities are surely green with envy at the resourcefulness of our city staff in identifying funding for important infrastructure improvements without negatively impacting our budget priorities or depleting our revenue.

Here are some of the improvements that are underway.

Geary Road enhancements

This $10 million project, in partnership with the city of Walnut Creek, will improve Geary Road from Putnam Boulevard to Pleasant Hill Road.

The improvements will include the construction of continuous left-turn lanes, a bike lane and new pedestrian sidewalks.

The redesign of the intersection of Geary and Pleasant Hill roads, which has already begun, will be completed with gateway monuments identifying Pleasant Hill boundaries (more on that below).

Enhancements for Contra Costa Boulevard

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ViewPoints by Timothy M. Flaherty: Pleasant Hill roadway, sign improvements to begin