Chris Clark is pleased with the new view outside his Pittsburg home.

Despite some traffic hardships as drivers tried to avoid backhoes and the fact the project took a "really long time," Clark is happy with the new sidewalks and roads on West Eighth Street.

The end of the road is close for a nearly three-year project to improve one of the city's older neighborhoods.

Residents who live along roughly 12 blocks of residential houses and apartments between Railroad Avenue and Beacon Street from Eighth to 10th streets have received new water and sewer lines, roads and sidewalks and underground utility services. The $19.9 million project was funded with water-bond funds and money from the city's redevelopment agency. It also included widening Herb White Way.

City Manager Marc Grisham said the project is a departure from the typical practice in Pittsburg of tearing down and rebuilding houses and neighborhoods. Examples of that sit just a block north of Eighth Street up to the waterfront.

Instead, Pittsburg has adapted to the existing constraints of the neighborhood. At times, that has been an arduous process.

"It's been a long and challenging project, but we feel that neighborhood's appearance is dramatically better," said Joe Sbranti, assistant city manager for external operations.

The age of the streets and properties led to a number of hurdles. As a result, new storm drains were built to accommodate the different

The neighborhood had "very little along the lines of a storm drain system" as water would just drain to the street and flow toward the river, Sbranti said. The project literally "looked at fixing one street at a time, even one property at a time," Sbranti said.

Additionally, sidewalks along Herb White Way needed extra width around light poles to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Another hurdle was making sure residents continued to have access to their homes and the streets during construction.

Sbranti credits the project's contractor, Ghilotti Construction Co., with working to solve each little problem that came up. He also appreciated the patience of residents, given how long the project took and the inconvenience caused by dust and equipment.

Several residents and business owners in the neighborhood lauded the improvements. Kassim Shaibi, owner of La Aurora market on 10th Street and a Pittsburg native who grew up in the neighborhood, said it's great "just to look up and see the sky" rather than rows of PG&E transformers.

"We've been waiting for that down here for a long time," said Shaibi, who owns several rental properties in the neighborhood. Other residents echoed those thoughts in both English and Spanish.

City Manager Grisham said the project "basically shows that we care about the neighborhood by providing something they richly deserve. You can see the improvements happening there."

Rigorous code enforcement and policing, along with the city improvements, are helping slowly change the area, long considered one of Pittsburg's least attractive. Residents are also starting to show pride in improving their own properties, he said.

Elected leaders also expressed pleasure with the face-lift.

Mayor Nancy Parent said the character and uniqueness of the neighborhood were preserved as "the homes weren't all built as subdivisions and painted the same color." Councilman Michael Kee added that the project is an example of what redevelopment should be accomplishing.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month, Sbranti said.

Paul Burgarino covers Pittsburg and Bay Point. Reach him at 925-779-7164.