Major changes to East Market Street

Drivers need to be aware of major changes on a stretch of East Market Street in Salinas.

On Monday, city leaders celebrated the Safe Routes to School project at Fremont Elementary School in Salinas. There are some new safety measures being implemented on East Market Street between Eucalyptus Drive and First Avenue. While the improvements were in front of Fremont Elementary School, it can also benefit students at nearly El Sausal Middle School.

It includes a so-called road diet, which trims away two of the four travel lanes. They say it’s a move that will force people to slow down.

“We installed bike lanes, a lot of striping for pedestrians, crosswalks, bicycle lanes are nicely identified,” said Frank Aguayo, senior engineer for the City of Salinas. “The road was really wide so we actually make the corners a little narrower so people can walk quicker and be spending less time crossing the street.”

There’s also a new configuration. The sidewalk is designated for pedestrians. To the left of that is a bicycle lane. Next to that is a buffer zone in case bicyclists or cars need a little more room. On one side of the street, there is parallel parking, then the roadway.

Other changes on the busy roadway include getting rid of the four-way stops and adding lights at East Market at Eucalyptus and Towt.

A sixth-grader at Fremont Elementary School said the changes make his walk to school safer.

“I hope this will encourage more people to walk and bike to school,” said Jesus Camrgo.

Miguel Mieras lives across from the school. He has used the sidewalk to ride his bicycle with his children. Because of concerns about bicycle safety, he will not use the bike lane.

“We’re not going to ride bikes next to the cars cause they said it was going to be lower speed, but it’s the same speed so riding bikes, I would not do it,” Mieras said.

The project, which has been nearly a decade in the making, comes with a cost of $1.5 million. The city paid $235,000 with the rest being paid for with state funds.

Aguayo said road diets are becoming popular across the state, with Salinas looking at two more along Alvin Drive and West Alisal Street.