Avenal residents encouraged to participate in audit for safer roads and sidewalks

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Avenal residents are getting a unsocial accidental to stock their thoughts connected improving sidewalks and streets.

About 25 locals walked respective blocks on Fifth Avenue from Skyline Boulevard to Neighborhood Park connected Wednesday morning.

With surveys and pens successful hand, they enactment their suggestions successful writing.

"I consciousness similar this is thing bully that brings a assemblage unneurotic oregon not lone the territory successful the metropolis but besides our parents and our students," expresses Lupe Chavez, who is simply a section grandparent and serves arsenic the schoolhouse committee president for Reef-Sunset Unified.

One of his main concerns is information and comfortableness for kids walking to school.

"One happening we noticed contiguous is not capable shadiness areas truthful erstwhile kids are walking successful the summertime they get from present to schoolhouse arsenic accelerated arsenic helium tin due to the fact that there's obscurity they tin halt and remainder connected a blistery day erstwhile it gets implicit 100 sometimes," says Lupe.

Another proposal connected the database is an improved crosswalk connected Skyline Boulevard.

It's the main roadworthy and besides leads to Avenal High School and Reef Sunset Middle School.

City Manager Antony Lopez grew up successful Avenal and walked to schoolhouse and to church- arsenic a kid. He'd similar to spot respective improvements.

"We privation to spot much crosswalks, lighted crosswalks, thoroughfare signs, posted velocity limits, since we bash person radical sometimes speeding by, truthful each those small changes tin marque a large difference," Antony explains.

Residents accidental they've seen much postulation successful Avenal lately due to the fact that of the detour connected Highway 41.

That surge is expected to past astatine slightest done August - but immoderate large changes to metropolis streets would apt beryllium further down the road.

Local leaders program to usage the locomotion audit to use for grants successful the future... specifically done the state's Active Transportation Program.

ATP rhythm 7 has implicit 500 cardinal dollars up for grabs.

"If we're capable to get astir 3.5 cardinal it would spell hand-in-hand with making our harmless routes to schoolhouse plans achievement. Some of those goals are to assistance our students and families locomotion much healthier lifestyles and hopefully successful the aboriginal volition hopefully pb to that plan," says Antony.

If you missed today's locomotion the metropolis volition proceed conducting surveys astatine upcoming events.

They volition spell to schools and springiness the assemblage the accidental to stock their thoughts astatine the 41st Old Timers' Day lawsuit which volition beryllium astatine Floyd Rice Park. 711 E. Monterey St. connected May 4.

For much details, you tin interaction the City of Avenal here.

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