1999 Grant Recipient Information
California

Escalon High School Linkage Project
Escalon, California

Abstract

The project seeks to link the community high school with a variety of land uses via two separate alternative transportation corridors:

1. The Southern Link - A pedestrian plaza, roadside park and "woonerf' on a portion of State Route 120 abandoned as a result of a realignment of the highway; and
2. The Northern Link - A Class I bicycle lane along Miller Avenue that will provide a direct fink between Escalon High School and Community Center and a bicycle/pedestrian activated crossing signal at the intersection of Miller Avenue and Escalon Avenue.

The City is currently in the throws of the largest public works project in its history - the realignment and widening of State Route 120 and McHenry Avenue (See Attachment "A@'). These plans call for the widening of two major regional roadways, State Route 120 and McHenry Avenue. The addition of the proposed two links proposed will insure that pedestrian and bicycle commuters can get to Escalon High School in a safe and efficient manner. Like many small towns, the local high school serves as a focal point for many activities within the town. I

The Escalon High School Linkage project will fully incorporate this important facility with the entire community by providing enhanced mitigation of the impacts associated with the widen roadways. Specifically, the Southern Link will ser-ve as an excellent model of how to convert an abandoned roadway segment into a center piece of the community. The Northern Link will be a model of how to retrofit an existing, excessively wide road right-of-way with enhanced bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Target populations benefitting from the project include both students and senior citizens. High School students, over 900 students, will directly benefit from both the southern and northern links. Senior citizens participating in the day senior lunch program, approximately 75, and seniors residing in the Heritage House, approximately 50, will directly benefit from the northern link. Escalon itself has a population of 4,500, therefore the project will directly benefit 18.6% of the entire population.

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