HMB is shovel-ready for its $176,000 stimulus

The Chron visits downtown Half Moon Bay to see how our stimulus tax dollars will be spent to repair Main Street. The city is getting $176,000 from the county, which is allocating it to communities based on their size.

The paving project will resurface five blocks of Main Street, two blocks of Kelly Avenue and the historic, 109-year-old concrete bridge at the north end of town. A brass plaque proclaims it to be the oldest concrete bridge in San Mateo County, and it’s got the battle scars to prove it.

All up and down Main Street were other scars, in the form of vacant storefronts. Much of Main Street is for lease, and much of the rest is having a sale.

Margo Christiansen, the proprietor of Unique Clothing, is having a 40 percent-off sale. It used to be a 10 percent-off sale, then a 20 percent-off sale.

Some of the sidewalk cracks are right in front of her store. She said it will be nice to have them fixed.

"If the sidewalk looks crummy, that affects business," she said. "Our city has a Ritz Carlton Hotel. We have to keep ourselves looking great. The people who stay at the Ritz Carlton get dropped off downtown in a limousine, and they expect nice things when they get here. They expect a certain level."