Santa Maria Sidewalk Improvement Project Keeps Students in Mind
SANTA MARIA, Calif.
The days of walking on cracked or raised sidewalks on a major Santa Maria street are coming to an end. The city has already finished the first part of an ongoing improvement project along Broadway and they’re doing these improvements with students in mind who are headed back to school soon as well as thousands of other pedestrians.
“I go to Walgreens, I go to the bank,” pedestrian Ginger Bachus said.
Ginger Bachus uses her walker to get up and down Broadway everyday.
“Some of these corners are really messed up, my wheels get caught on some of these corners,” Bachus said.
But help is on the way. Santa Maria’s sidewalk improvement project has aimed to fix these issues for people like Bachus, students who walk Broadway to school and parents who push their small children in strollers.
“It’s important that they be in good shape for anybody, because there’s a lot of people that come along here in wheelchairs,” Bachus said.
The work took place over the past two months on Broadway street from Enos Drive to Donovan Road. The city hopes to continue this ongoing project next month on other parts of Broadway.
“The street trees uplift the sidewalks and interrupt the pedestrian travel,” Public Works Director Steve Kahn said.
Public Works Director Steve Kahn says safety is the main objective but also that it beatifies the city and improves property values.
“We want to make sure there’s no trip and falls and that the public can conveniently get down the sidewalk to reach their destination,” Kahn said.
While crews fixed the sidewalk, the construction did disrupt business along parts of Broadway.
“A lot of customers thought we were closed,” Santa Maria Burgers cashier Ashley Camarena said.
Ashley Camarena says the construction slowed down business at Santa Maria Burgers.
“The sidewalk was kind of crooked so it was hard to get in and I think it’s better now, so much smoother,” Camarena said.
So far this phase of the sidewalk improvement project has cost $160,000.
