Salinas slated to receive grants for road and sidewalk repairs

The city of Salinas has dangerously uneven sidewalks and some potholes deep enough to step in. City officials said those problems have been around for years, but they may now have a way to fix them. Public works said a lot of the problems with the streets have to do with the way they were designed and all the traffic the roads carry takes a toll.

“Sometimes I look at Salinas and I ask the question of who designed the traffic around here and the answer is no one. And so we’re looking at bringing streets into alignment to get better flow of traffic.,” said Director of Public Works, Gary Petersen.

Salinas has been awarded $10.5 million to help improve roads and sidewalks to make it safer for cars, bicyclists and pedestrians.

“Some of the areas are very dangerous the sidewalk is literally popped up and out and are creating little ledges for kids like my son who was riding his little bike and he’s three he doesn’t know how to compensate for a ledge that’s over five inches tall and he fell and hit his head,” said Salinas resident, Jenny Jarvis.

The city has a long list of sidewalks in hundreds of areas that need fixing. That list is 14 years old.

“We don’t want anybody to fall down and get hurt and plus it’s a monetary issue. Somebody falls out here they probably take everything my moms got,” said Salinas resident, Gordon Legault.

“We live in a time when we’re seeing a lot more people move to pedestrians and bicycles so a lot of this is looking how to reconfigure your streets to make room for everyone,” said Petersen.

Alvin Drive in Salinas is one of the streets that would be converted from four lanes to two. With the extra space on the road, plans for a bike lane would be put in, and a revamped crosswalk. The city council is expected to approve funding later this month and construction could start over the next 12 months.