First it was ‘swervey curvey.’ Now this SLO County road has a new name: ‘Lumpy bumpy’
Pismo Beach’s “swervey curvey” road has a descriptive new name.
Months after the strangely winding Shell Beach Road was finally straightened back out, the street got another moniker to describe it: “lumpy bumpy.”
On Thursday, a sign posted on the side of the road proclaims that Shell Beach Road, which stretches through Shell Beach, is “lumpy bumpy” due to the ongoing Shell Beach Road Streetscape project. The $13 million project is a redesign of the roadway to make the area more business, cyclist and pedestrian friendly.
Crews are currently working on underground utilities and have to have quick access to storm lines and infrastructure, so the road is pockmarked by temporary asphalt patches, according to Pismo Beach management services Director Jorge Garcia.
Hence, “lumpy bumpy.”
“Just like we were making fun of ourselves with ‘swervey curvey,’ the Public Works department switched the sign to ‘lump bumpy,” Garcia told The Tribune on Thursday. “And the community has loved it. The businesses have been playing with it.”
“I think they like that we can be playful,” Garcia added. “It’s quintessential Pismo Beach and who we are as a community.”
Garcia said the sign has actually been up since soon after the road was straightened out in late 2019.
Shell Beach Road caught national attention in 2019, when the road was re-striped with winding lines that had motion-sick drivers and passengers reaching for barf bags.
Some joked the wobbly lines were an effort to dissuade drunk drivers in the area, but the creative striping was really meant to help keep parking along the busy roadway while crews worked on moving utilities underground.
The “swervey curvey” road became something of a landmark for the Pismo Beach area. In May 2019, Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab unveiled a limited-time custom flavor of ice cream called the Swervy Shell Swirl.
The road was put back on the straight-and-narrow in the fall of 2019.
Garcia said he expects the “lumpy bumpy” sign will stay in the area until the project is completed in late summer, probably the first week in August.
In the meantime, Garcia said the road’s brand new multi-use path is up and running and ready for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“We have had people using it — riding bikes on it, pushing strollers, walking dogs,” Garcia said. “We encourage people to do that. We are working on curbs and gutters on business side, so we are encouraging people to divert to that while those are under construction.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 2:53 PM.
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