GILROY
– The school district is spending $8 million this summer to
bring the Gilroy High School campus up to par, and the city hopes
to help by improving the high-traffic area on the school’s north
boundary.
GILROY – The school district is spending $8 million this summer to bring the Gilroy High School campus up to par, and the city hopes to help by improving the high-traffic area on the school’s north boundary.
The high school’s biggest traffic-related safety concern is 10th Street between Orchard Drive and Princevalle Street 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays.
The city plans to install a median with a fence along 10th Street to deter jaywalkers, as well as improve the intersection at 10th and Princevalle.
A $450,000 grant from Caltrans would go a long way to fund the $500,000 project: The city applied for the “Safe Routes to School” grant in February and expects word any day, Engineering Technician Laurie Loveless said.
“Hopefully, any time we should be able to find out because we did put a schedule in of trying to get things done over the summer,” she said.
Tenth Street has long been a hazard both before and after school hours, with students dodging east and westbound traffic as they cross the street both inside and outside of crosswalks.
With the installation of a median and fence, students next year would have to cross only at designated crosswalks at Orchard Drive to the west or Princevalle to the east. The grant money also would pay for flashing beacons along the Orchard crosswalk that would light up when a pedestrian waited to cross. Cars currently do not have a stop sign or light at that intersection.
Drivers turning left off of 10th Street onto Princevalle also would benefit from the planned improvements. Cars currently back up approaching the intersection because the left-turners must wait for oncoming traffic to pass before moving through the intersection.
Lori Stuenkel covers education for The Dispatch. She can be reached at 842-6400 x277 or ls*******@************ch.com.
