Busy street divides Modesto High. Project has made getting to class safer for students
One of the city’s most dramatic pedestrian projects just wrapped up around Modesto High School.
Students returned for the fall semester on Aug. 13 to find two fewer traffic lanes where H Street becomes Paradise Road. Several crosswalks in the neighborhood got extra-wide speed bumps. New roundabouts handle traffic at two tricky intersections.
George Reed Inc. of Modesto did the work on a $8.5 million contract approved last August by the City Council. The crews minimized lane closures during the 2023-24 school year but needed major detours over summer break.
The project extended about 0.7 miles southwest from First to Sheridan streets, including MaxxValue Foods and other businesses. Paradise runs at a diagonal to the main street grid, creating awkward intersections for drivers, walkers and cyclists.
City worked with school district
The city planned the project with input from Modesto City Schools. The high school is divided by Paradise and H, forcing students to cross between class periods.
The district has funding for new buildings that will shift almost all classes to the south side over the next few years. Old portable classrooms will be removed from the north side to make room for parking and a long-sought stadium.
The street project also provided bicycle lanes on several blocks, marked off with paint rather than raised berms. The latter protects cyclists better but interfere with parking and driveways.
Many school zones in Modesto and beyond have had modest upgrades for pedestrians. Curbs can “bulb out” at crossings to make students more visible. They can press buttons to make warning lights flash.
The Paradise project came a few years after pedestrian upgrades on the stretch between Sheridan and Carpenter Road. It is home to Burbank Elementary School and numerous homes and businesses. The area is outside the city limit and in the purview of Stanislaus County Public Works.
Roundabouts and other upgrades
The latest project is especially elaborate. Some highlights:
The Paradise/H Street narrowing leaves curbside space where students can be dropped off and picked up.
This portion got a median fence that keeps the teens from crossing at random.
One of the roundabouts is at Washington and I streets, the west edge of downtown’s diagonal grid.
The other roundabout is where Chicago Avenue crosses Paradise, a five-way intersection.
Several crosswalks got “speed tables,” much wider than the speed bumps that slow traffic elsewhere.
The project cost about $11.5 million, including design and construction management. The city used a $3.9 million grant from the state’s Active Transportation Program. The rest came from the county’s Measure L sales tax.
