Villa Del Monte’s Casa Verde Underpass: City Staff Oppose Duplicate $300,000 Proposal While Earlier Project Remains Active

VILLA DEL MONTE, Monterey — October 29, 2026. Residents who use the Casa Verde Avenue underpass have a new, specific item to track in city planning documents—but it is not a fresh approval for construction. A 2026–27 Monterey neighborhood-improvement nomination requests an additional $300,000 for traffic calming and pedestrian improvements, including lighting and landscaping. City engineering staff say they do not support this new request as submitted, because an earlier underpass-improvement project is already in the city system.

What the new Villa Del Monte nomination requests

Project VDM-01 identifies the roadway passage at Casa Verde Avenue beneath Highway 1. The application describes measures intended to make the underpass more comfortable for pedestrians and drivers, with lighting and landscaping among the ideas. It does not identify a final engineering design or a date for road closures. The $300,000 entry is a preliminary project estimate, not a newly awarded construction budget.

Why the staff review is negative

The October 28 NCIP committee packet states that the city already has a Casa Verde Avenue Underpass Improvements project. Staff therefore oppose creating a second overlapping nomination and specifically say they do not support adding maintained landscaping at this time because staffing is insufficient for the ongoing work. Those comments concern the new request and do not mean the city has declared the older underpass project canceled or completed.

What residents should ask before another budget is approved

The clearest questions are which improvements remain funded in the older project, whether accessible pedestrian routes and lighting are covered, and what additional scope—if any—would actually need a separate budget. Villa Del Monte residents should not count both project totals as money committed for the same stretch of roadway.

The city’s NCIP Committee is scheduled to rank current nominations on November 18. This story reports a proposal and the staff objection, not a final rejection, construction contract or opening date.

Primary source: Monterey NCIP second-review packet, October 28, 2026; project VDM-01 and staff comments (PDF). The city posts future meeting agendas at its official agenda portal.

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