The City of Woodlake’s Multi-Phased Downtown Enhancement Project provides a more pleasing entrance into the downtown business district. The downtown has gone through a complete transformation, fulfilling the City’s master plan concept to provide pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connectivity to shopping, living, office, and recreational destinations in the downtown area; and improves the aesthetic appearance and usefulness of downtown.
The $13.4 million-dollar multi-phased project involved the design and construction of pedestrian-friendly decorative sidewalks, ornamental street lighting, decorative benches, trash/recycling receptacles, landscaping, bicycle lanes, ADA compliant ramps, and bulb-outs that maintain traffic at safe speeds through the downtown area. The addition of decorative crosswalks, ADA accessible ramps, and drive approaches was installed to give drivers and pedestrians visual cues that encourage safer vehicle speeds and pedestrian activity. The Downtown Plaza provides a venue for community events such as music, plays, and other outdoor activities. The new Whitney Transit Center provides connectivity to the Tulare County transit system which allows residents to travel to additional destinations that were not available previously. The single lane, urban Roundabout located at the intersection of Valencia (State Route 245) and Naranjo Boulevards (State Route 216) improves safety, accessibility, and aids traffic management, mobility, and connectivity through the City’s downtown business district. A much-needed Class II bike lane and multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path were included through the Roundabout to increase safety and transportation choices for the citizens of Woodlake.
In total, these projects installed 6,209 lineal feet of curb and gutter, 104,746 square feet of decorative sidewalk, 3,536 square feet of city standard sidewalk, a stage at the plaza, a kiosk building with 2 wood awnings at the transit center, 4,760 lineal feet of bicycle lanes and another striping, 39 decorative crosswalks, 32 bulb-outs, 91 of ADA compliant ramps, 103 of tree wells, 32,425 square feet of landscape planters, 41 benches, 46 trash/recycling receptacles, 10 bicycle racks, 45 drive approaches, 66 of street lights, 108 of lighted pedestrian bollards, 3,220 lineal feet of the storm drain pipe, and 130,255 square feet of paving.
Each phase of the Multi-Phased Downtown Enhancement Project provides a need to the community where it was previously lacking. Being a disadvantaged community, most residents walk throughout the City and use the bus system since they do not have their own vehicular transportation. The downtown enhancement improvements have resulted in an improved downtown climate, the addition of new businesses, and several safety-related improvements. These projects provide pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connectivity to shopping, living, office, and recreational destinations in the downtown area and outside City limits.
