Students and Larkspur residents got a nice surprise last week when Doherty Drive opened four weeks ahead of schedule.

Although Doherty Drive was scheduled to reopen on Nov. 30, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Nov. 2. Hamid Shamsapour, the Director of Public Works and City Engineer for Larkspur, said that good weather and extra work by the contractor were responsible for the early end to construction.

“Our contractor worked longer hours [per day],” said Shamsapour, who was responsible for overseeing the entire project. “They worked every Saturday and some Sundays. The weather cooperated with us, too.”

Shamsapour said that there is still some work to be done – such as painting stripes and adding benches – but there will be no more construction.

“We opened it as soon as we could, and some of the things we are doing could be done when the road is open,” he said. “We didn’t want to keep it closed even one day longer than we had to.”

Shamsapour also said that cooperation from community members and schools helped to hurry the project along.

“Nobody really complained,” he said. “Everybody was really patient. I’m very grateful for that. I’m very appreciative of the cooperation.”

Shamsapour said that the project ended up costing just under the original estimate of $2 million.