Motorists around Turlock are beginning to experience some extra traffic along busy corridors that are in the process of receiving a facelift.
For the past couple of weeks, construction crews have been updating curbs and gutters along Geer Road and Hawkeye Avenue in preparation for road repaving, which will begin in coming weeks.
Hawkeye Avenue, which currently has it’s asphalt ground down, is being repaved between Golden State Boulevard and Olive Avenue.
“We are currently looking at paving Hawkeye somewhere around late May, early June,” said Director of Development Services Mike Pitcock at the May 12 Turlock City Council meeting. “So hopefully we can start seeing some activity and make that road a whole lot better than it is."
The total project will cost $1,512,041, with $719,497 coming from federal funds from RSTP program and $793,000 from the Gas Tax fund. The $1.5 million price tag includes a more than $1.2 million bid awarded to Teichert Construction, Inc.
At completion of the project, Hawkeye Avenue will have a similar rubberized surface as Fulkerth Road, which was repaved between Golden State Boulevard and Highway 99 in 2013.
The rubberized asphalt surface treatment is said to be longer-lasting than traditional pavement, provide a quieter ride, and cause less wear-and-tear on vehicles' tires.
Geer Road between Monte Vista Avenue and Taylor Road is also receiving a facelift, with repaving and sidewalk improvements currently ongoing.
In addition to repaving, the island along Geer Road, in front of the CSU Stanislaus Warrior Stadium, is being extended in front of Fulton Drive to prevent motorists from crossing across the high-traffic corridor.
Geer Road repaving is also being paid for in large part by federal RSTP dollars, which makes up $917,497 of the $1,243,773 total cost. The additional $328,000 is coming from Gas Tax dollars.
Teichert Construction, Inc. was also awarded the bid for the Geer Road project as the lowest responsible bidder.
The Geer Road rehabilitation project will also have feature the rubberized asphalt surface treatment.
Both projects are expected to continue into June and will often have lane closures associated with them, so motorists should prepare for additional traffic in these areas or take alternate routes.
Other projects around Turlock that are finishing up include the Drew Avenue improvements. Construction crews have been installing sewer improvements on Drew Avenue between Pedras and Tuolumne roads over the past few weeks and are now preparing repave the road.
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Once again, fixing the roads that are not even messed up while those of us in the the 95380 zip code keep getting screwed.
Why not start with W.Main. Or streets with no curbs. Instead of fixing streets that are in fair condition. Wasting money.
Because West Main Street is not a direct route from highway 99 to Bristol Park, Peacock Estates or any of the other high priced homes. Fulkerth and Hawkeye are the direct route. Money talks in this town. Why do you think Yosemite St by Crane park was repaved several years ago?
To: Money Talks,
I can assure you the resurfacing of Hawkeye Avenue from N. Olive Avenue to N. Golden State Boulevard has nothing to do with a sinister plot to ease the travel of those of influence but rather to resurface a highly traveled roadway considered to be the center of this city. However, if you wish to feel repressed because West Main Street and other Westside streets are not currently under repair then blame the resurfacing priorities as a reward to those who pay the greater amount of State and Federal taxes and receive the least amount of free social services in this town. Without the movers and shakers of this Country, State and City there would be
no Welfare, no E.B.T., no free food, no free housing, no free transportation, no free Obama phone and no free medical care for the those to rely on. So instead of being angry and blaming the City for your neglect, be thankful the taxpayers throughout this County are keeping those in need comfortable.
For those of you complaining that all west side streets are in such bad condition and all streets in the north end are not; I invite you to drive down N. Johnson Rd between Arbor and E. Canal. Then drive down Hammond St. Hammond is in horrible condition and it is right in the middle of “peacock estates” All the west siders please spare everybody your false outrage and stand quietly by your mail box on the first of the month.
It would be nice if they flatten out that jump on Monte Vista at Geer. Then make the l
ight ( and all the other lights in this behind the times own) motorcycle friendly.
A simple check would reveal that there is no such street as Fulton Dr in Turlock. Try driving down Geer Rd and you might spot “Fullerton” Dr.
I honestly just want to know why the same streets are always getting worked on. I’m not asking in a “it’s not fair” way, I’m asking why it keeps getting messed up in the first place? It feels like they are always fixing the streets around donnelly park.
I blame the Kid Mayor for this situation. Taxpayers could have supported Measure B, but Sosieth talked out of both sides of his mouth. Where is the solution to fix our roads, it’s been more than 120+ days, where is the Kid Mayor’s plan to fix our roads?
The last mayor did nothing to repair the streets. Leave the new Mayor alone.
MEASURE B!? Measure B wanted us to pay more for exactly what we are getting now. A few months back we had no money for roads, then suddenly they find $2-3 million to get some much needed work done. Amazing. Seems like Soiseth’s plan for road maintenance is pretty evident.
Do you pay attention or just call people names? Lazar supported Measure B. Sosieth didn’t. So my point is, what is The Kid’s plan to fix our roads. The 100 days have passed, a while ago, and the mayor who is always getting his picture taken in front of something, needs to tell taxpayers how he plans to fix the roads. Those of us who live in older neighborhoods, don’t pay the extra taxes to have our roads paved like homeowners in the north part of town. We would have to pass an assessment district. Measure B was our best option to fix current city roads and The Kid bashed it.
My neighbors and I agree with the “Blame Sosieth” comment. Where’s the plan to fix our roads? What else has he done?
The money for the road improvements you are talking about came from grants, which were submitted before Sosieth was elected. So would that mean former Mayor Lazar should take credit. That’s what I love about this website, more misinformation. Again, if you read Measure B, the money would have gone to fix EXISTING roads. I want a clear explanation why Sosieth didn’t support Measure B. The money would have stayed in Turlock to fix Turlock roads. It had a sunset. Everyone knows the state takes our gas tax money and if you don’t, shame on you!
So you’d rather pay higher taxes than to have the money we already pay spent on what it should be spent on?
You might also want to take a look at the city budget. It looks like the city received almost $2,000,000 explicitly from gas tax revenue for road maintenance, and another $4,000,00 in grants funded by, you guessed it, by gasoline taxes.
http://www.ci.turlock.ca.us/pdflink.asp?pdf=documents/administrativeservices/financedivision/FY14-15Budget.pdf
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Whatever acrobatics our blinkered mayor performs during council meetings, the best he can do for older streets is to send the pothole crew? And increase the size of the pothole crew?
A lot of us in long-time residential areas (not directly on Hawkeye, Monte Vista, Geer and Canal Dr., etc., have been waiting for road improvements, gosh, probably ever since the current mayor was attending local elementary schools.