Three lights have been installed to ease traffic related to construction on a roundabout project at the intersection of Laureles Grade and Carmel Valley Road. Soon after the project started in June, public concern quickly emerged about increased wait times and difficulties, especially for drivers heading east on Carmel Valley Road who want to make a left turn at Laureles Grade.
The project was born out of the need to improve the flow of traffic at an unsafe intersection at the base of Bernardus Lodge. It will replace the stop-controlled “T” intersection that connects drivers from Carmel Valley to Highway 1, and to Highway 68 to the north.
“I know that it is difficult being in the midst of a construction project for a long period of time,” County Supervisor Kate Daniels said in a video posted to Facebook on July 22, four days after traffic control began – almost a month after the project started. “Assuming we don’t have a wet winter and other factors are in our favor, we hope that this project will be done a lot sooner than March.”
The project is currently in Phase 1 of six, slated for completion in March 2026 with a $3.8 million budget. (The total project cost, including design, is $5.6 million.)
During construction, traffic lights were installed along Carmel Valley Road going east and westbound, as well as on Laureles Grade for drivers turning onto Carmel Valley Road.
“[The lights] work, folks should not be leery today about avoiding the intersection,” Daniels says. “Cars are moving through this area without a big time delay. Now, I’m working on what’s going to happen when school starts so we don’t have a new nightmare.”