Roeding Park Tot Lot Improvements

City of Fresno, CA

Roeding Park Tot Lot Improvement

 QK provided engineering design and construction support, and a Categorical Exemption under CEQA for improvements to the Pine Grove and Maple Grove Tot Lots. This project consisted of replacing all existing playground equipment, installing shade structures, replacing benches, replacing trash receptacles, reviewing ADA compliance, and reconditioning rock wall equipment. Our team provided three play structure options for each tot lot, allowing the City to choose the best option for park visitors.

City of Farmerville Transit Center

A transit center is center with parking spots in front
City of Farmersville, CA

Farmersville Transit Center

The Farmersville Transit Center Project is a significant development that has enhanced local transportation services. This project involved developing a new 1,400-square-foot Transit Center on Front Street in Farmersville, plus approximately 2,000 square feet of covered seating. The QK team worked closely with the City of Farmersville to coordinate the type of facility, aesthetic character, and needs. Additionally, the facility was designed to have a platform for pedestrian traffic from the San Joaquin Valley Rail line in anticipation of the proposed Cross Valley Rail connection to this facility in the future.

Outcomes

  • Enhanced Local Transportation: The Transit Center is expected to improve local transportation services, providing a new 1,400-square-foot facility with 2,000 square feet of covered seating.
  • Community Benefits: The Transit Center was designed with future connectivity in mind, including a platform for pedestrian traffic that aligns with the future Cross Valley Rail connection.
  • Environmental Resilience: Designed to meet flood zone requirements by elevating the facility more than two feet above the adjacent grade.
  • Improved Aesthetic Character: A collaborative design process ensured the facility fits local needs and integrates aesthetically with the City of Farmersville.

Rotary East Pickleball Courts

A pickleball net
City of Fresno, CA

Rotary East Park Pickleball Courts

Rotary Park is located in the City of Fresno. The Project includes eight new Pickleball Courts at Rotary East Park. Design features for the park includes lighted courts with fencing, ADA paths of travel, and amenities such as drinking fountains, benches, landscaping, all of which are subject to review of community input collected as part of the project. QK will focuses on the objectives above through tried-and-true methods that we have used at many similar parks. When designing pickleball courts and the space around them, it is essential to consider factors such as the courts’ size, surface material, sound, and overall layout. QK’s focus for this project will include the following:

  • Designing new pickleball courts to meet pickleball requirements
  • Updating areas and path of travel to new pickleball courts
  • Improving adjacent features and areas, including benches, drinking fountains, and landscaping
  • Optimizing park safety through the integration of area lighting around the new pickleball courts

Castle Rock & Sierra Roundabout

City of Woodlake, CA

Castle Rock & Sierra Roundabout

The City of Woodlake constructed a single-lane roundabout at the Castle Rock Street and Sierra Avenue intersection. As the Woodlake community grew, the original intersection became congested with school, recreation, and residential traffic. This $3.1 million project was paid for by Measure R, CMAQ, and LSRP funds and included the roundabout, curb, gutters, ramps, sidewalks, streetlights, paving, on-street parking, landscaping, irrigation, sewer system, and storm drain improvements. 

The Castle Rock & Sierra Roundabout achieved the City’s objectives to relieve traffic congestion, increase bike/pedestrian safety, and provide adequate ADA accessibility. Added benefits of the project included improved air quality for nearby residents, park users, and elementary school students. Landscaping additions to the corners and center of the roundabout beautified the area for the growing number of residents and travelers who will pass through the intersection in the coming years. The City transformed an inadequate intersection into a roundabout that addressed basic transit needs while creating an aesthetic that reflects the City staff’s dedication to their community. 

Visalia Road Improvements Phase I

City of exeter, CA

Visalia Road Improvements Phase I

 

The Visalia Road Improvement Project Phase I consisted of road improvements between Jacob Place and Orange Avenue. The scope included the total reconstruction of the existing roadway, new curb and gutter, landscaped medians, entrances into businesses, sidewalk, signing and striping, and modifications to the existing signal at Belmont Road.  This $4.3 million was part of the City of Exeter’s sweeping Visalia Road Improvement Project that addresses community safety and operational needs. 

Years of wet winters and hot summers took a toll on the road’s original pavement, making it unpleasant for travel. The road was not fully ADA accessible and wasn’t inviting or conducive to pedestrian traffic, negatively impacting local businesses. The project design addressed each of these areas with added considerations for improving traffic circulation and providing a fresh, inviting thoroughfare through the City. The completed project met local and regional active transportation goals and will increase the economic viability of the area.

South Farmersville Boulevard Safe Routes To Schools Project

City of Farmersville, CA

South Farmersville

 

The City of Farmersville’s South Farmersville Boulevard Project is a pedestrian and bicycle improvement project, as well as a transit project. The Project improves pedestrian and bicycle safety by addressing deficiencies near places of employment, schools, and neighborhoods.

The Project’s location is South Farmersville Boulevard, the main north-south arterial in the City, and extends from just south of Visalia Road to the southern City limits, approximately ½-mile. The Project is in the direct vicinity of Snowden Elementary (approximately 450 students in grades 2 and 3). Roy Park and a senior housing community are also adjacent to the Project, as well as commercial and residential uses. A lack of contiguous sidewalks at this location forced students and others, including seniors, into the street or shoulder with no vehicular separation such as a raised curb. There were a narrow shoulder and no safe clearance for pedestrians or bicycles.

The Project included the design and installation of:

  • Approximately 1,700 linear feet of sidewalk
  • Five (5) ADA-compliant curb ramps
  • New pedestrian refuge median at the existing Snowden Elementary School crossing
  • Two (2) new transit stops
  • A new transit turn-around location
  • Signing; and Pavement Delineation
  • New Class II bicycle lanes

The existing Snowden Elementary School crossing was approximately 58 feet wide and vehicles typically travel between 35 and 45 mph in the area. The new pedestrian refuge median allows the students to cross half of the roadway and provides a safe area at which to remain before crossing the other half of the roadway.

There were previously no transit stops along South Farmersville Boulevard because the buses had no way to turn around. The project constructed a bus turnaround location which now allows for two transit stops on South Farmersville Boulevard. Seniors previously had to walk to transit stops on Visalia Road (approximately ½-mile) to travel to medical appointments, shopping, etc. With the new transit facilities adjacent to the senior housing community, it is much easier for the seniors to obtain transit service allowing them more freedom and independence.

QK provided engineering design and drafting, land surveying, utility coordination, right of way designation, environmental compliance, construction staking, and construction management and field observation services for the project.

Glaze Avenue

City of Exeter, CA

Glaze Avenue

 

The City of Exeter’s Glaze Avenue Project (Project) was a shoulder stabilization project which constructed approximately 31,000 square feet of pavement to provide shoulders along a mile-long segment of Glaze Avenue between Belmont Road and State Route (SR) 65 (Kaweah Avenue). Glaze Avenue is the southern-most roadway in the City of Exeter. A park, as well as residential, industrial, and agricultural uses, are adjacent to the Project. The roadway width was as narrow as 15 feet in some locations prior to construction.

The additional paving allowed for full-width, vehicle travel lanes, as well as shoulders striped as Class II bicycle lanes to provide bicycle connectivity across the southern end of the City. Project construction also included utility relocations, storm drainage, signing, and pavement delineation. The Project was funded by the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program, toll credits, and local funds.

San Joaquin Bridge / State Route 99 BAT Surveys

Caltrans, Fresno, CA

San Joaquin Bridge / State Route 99 BAT Surveys

 

The bridge crossing the San Joaquin River at Highway 99 needed retrofit. Working in partnership with Caltrans District 6 and MCM Construction, QK provided biological inspection of the bridge for its potential to support individual and maternity colonies of bats. Our work included identification of bat species using the bridge utilizing visual surveys and acoustic monitoring methods, installation of bat exclusion devices under the bridge that spanned approximately 1,000-feet, 150-feet above ground, and monitoring and repair of exclusion devices.

Initial work was conducted during a period when the population of bats was at a seasonal minimum (prior to the return of migratory species), and the timing of the demolition was scheduled to coincide with the lower abundance of bats. Professionally operated boom-lifts were used to mitigate safety risks during the installation of the exclusion devices, and the installed exclusion devices were monitored at night when bats are active.

Additionally, the extended period of noise and vibration from demolition created challenges for maintaining the viability of the exclusion devices, and new designs of exclusion devices were formulated to cope with these unique circumstances. Caltrans was able to complete the demolition and reconstruction of this large bridge within schedule, with a relatively low cost allocated for bat protections, all while meeting the environmental standards for the protection of bats mandated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Mulcahy Park

City of Tulare, CA

Mulcahy Park

 

The Mulcahy Park redesign project required careful planning to create facilities that met the needs of Mulcahy Middle School, neighbors, and the City of Tulare Parks and Recreation Department. QK was involved in the redesign of the existing Mulcahy Park, including civil engineering services, project management, construction administration, utility coordination, and landscape architecture. With a QK-led outreach effort that encouraged the staff and community to take pride in ownership in their park, our team was able to incorporate the public’s ideas into a revitalized park and plaza.

The park now includes four football/soccer fields, two softball/little league diamonds, restroom facilities, two picnic pavilions with Bar-B-Que and event areas, a splash park, tot playground, pre-teen playground, more than half a mile of trails, benches, and shade trees. The park also features multiple sustainable design features, including a new irrigation system connected to the City of Tulare’s central computer and weather station, drought-tolerant landscaping with reduction of the turf area, and high-efficiency restroom features. The space is currently available for school physical education classes and sports, after-school recreation programs, and community events.

Mulcahy Park was awarded the 2014 “Best Recreation Project – Under $5 Million” award by the American Public Works Association (APWA) Cen-Cal Chapter.

Fallen Heroes Park

City of Porterville, CA

Fallen Heroes Park

 

Fallen Heroes Park includes youth soccer and softball areas, a pre-teen and tot playground, two picnic shelters with Bar-B-Ques, a lighted basketball half-court, a splash pad, lighted loop walking trail and trailheads to the future Tule River Parkway trail system, a central community plaza, restroom facilities, and parking.

QK’s landscape architecture team reduced the overall turf area by using drought-tolerant planting, and the water-efficient irrigation system is connected to the City’s central computer and weather station. In addition, the site slopes to a north-west corner bio-swale designed to capture run-off and prevent it from entering the Tule River on the north end of the park.

The park has received multiple awards, including the 2015 “Public Works Project of the Year” from the American Public Works Association (APWA) Cen-Cal Chapter as well as the 2015 “Arbor Day Award” from Tree Fresno.