Starting July 11, construction will begin, and five-foot cats will be posted along N. Santa Cruz Avenue from the intersection at Highway 9 to Main Street.

"This will really be unique. Rather than avoiding downtown during construction we are giving people a reason to come downtown," Pamela Jacobs, Los Gatos assistant town manager, said.

The colorful cats will have facts about the construction, merchants and directions through the construction.

"The cats will take shoppers on a journey through a construction project. There will be other facts posted on the cats about how shopping locally helps town services, and why it's important to maintain the roads," Danielle Surdin, the town's economic vitality manager, said.

The construction was originally going to be a nine-week project from July to August, which would have included an extensive resurfacing of the road and a five-week water company project that would have replaced and lowered its main pipe under the road. Both would have required a complete road closure, which had some merchants concerned that business would suffer.

Eventually, though, the town decided the resurfacing project was not necessary right now, and the road had a useful life of about 10 years if simple overlay work was done.

In late February, the council voted unanimously to postpone both projects and complete a shorter, two-week road repair in July.

Matt Kelley, owner of Sports Gallery on N. Santa Cruz Avenue, said he is relieved.

"We're pleased with the shortened time. It sounds like the town really listened to the merchants," Kelley said.

Although he did not previously hear of "Cat-Struction," he thinks it's a good way to bring people downtown.

Surdin said the merchants have generally been responsive to the "Cat-Struction" theme.

"All of them have been pretty positive. They think it's a great idea to approach the construction this way," Surdin said.

She said merchants also understand there might be a slight drop in business during the two weeks.

Susan Bortfeld, owner of Vintages on N. Santa Cruz Avenue, said the construction would definitely affect her business.

"Who wants to shop when they can't even drive down the street?" Bortfeld said.

She said she appreciates, however, that the town is trying to do whatever it can to make the two weeks easier.

Kelley said his store would stay open during construction, although he has heard of other businesses that might close, including Bortfeld's, which will be closed during the second week of construction.

To accommodate shoppers, there will be free valet parking from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. July 13-16 in parking lot 4, between Elm Street and Grays Lane off University Avenue. The new Valley Transport Authority downtown shuttles will also be available.