Street View Under Tewa

On Tewa, the jump-started opening project of the city’s Utility Undergrounding Program to bury overhead electrical wires is winding down—albeit with a cost increase of nearly 50% over the initial estimate. Funded by Measure Q, a one-cent sales tax measure approved by Del Mar voters in 2016, the original estimate was $635,000 but has shot up to around $960,000. 

Some 1300 linear feet of trenches were dug out to connect undergrounding apparatus from 10th Street north of Camino Del Mar, crossing over to Tewa and finishing on its upper south side. They are now closed, topped off with fresh asphalt. Still to go: clearing the overhead cables and poles.

The work involved many people and machines over many months. Tewa resident Sharon Bockoff reports: “There is noise, dust and lots of street construction going on. There are a lot of parts and pieces that go into this process. The crew was very good. I think our only interruption is AT&T doing their part. We are still a work in progress so I cannot comment on the end result. It wasn’t always pleasant but I am looking at the end result of no overhead wires as being worth it. The best advice I can give to any of the neighborhoods that will be worked on in the future is that it’s not always going to be convenient. So for any of the inconvenience we experience the result should be enough to offset that.”