Fresno gets federal money to right ‘historic wrongs’ with pedestrian bridge over Highway 99
Plans by the city of Fresno to build a pedestrian bridge over Highway 99 near Roeding Park got a boost Tuesday as the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $600,000 planning grant for the project.
The money from the Reconnecting Communities pilot grant program is aimed at planning for a bridge over the freeway to right “historic wrongs” and connect Parkway Drive and the Jane Addams neighborhood on the west side of Highway 99 with Roeding Park to the east.
The award to Fresno is just one of 45 projects nationwide selected in what the federal agency describes as a “first-of-its-kind initiative to reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunity and burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions.” A total of $185 million was awarded to communities across the country.
“Transportation should connect, not divide, people and communities,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement announcing the grants, which are part of the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The construction of the modern freeway in the 1960s “ushered in a period of sharp decline for the Jane Addams Neighborhood, a disadvantaged community that found itself isolated from greenspace, community services, and economic investment following the (highway) project’s completion,” the DOT stated in its award announcement Tuesday. “The isolation played a role in soon establishing Parkway Drive as the epicenter of human trafficking and crime in the Fresno community, further leading to disinvestment and community problems.”
About the neighborhood
The Jane Addams neighborhood stretches along both the west and east sides of the freeway from Clinton Avenue at the north to Neilsen Avenue at the south — an area of 5,000 residents in 1,700 households over more than 1,150 acres. Jane Addams Elementary School is within the neighborhood footprint at McKinley and Hughes avenues, only about 400 feet west of the freeway.
The only crossings over Highway 99 from east to west are main streets that are often busy with vehicle traffic: Clinton, McKinley, Olive and Belmont avenues, as well as Teilman Avenue that crosses the freeway near the Belmont Memorial Park cemetery between Belmont and Nielsen avenues.
“The limited crossings hamper vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian connections to other parts of the city, including Roeding Park” and the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Rotary Playland and Storyland,” the federal award announcement stated. “Additionally, there are no bus stops in the neighborhood, which further limits mobility and connectivity.”
By reconnecting the neighborhood with the park and areas to the east, the bridge “would help correct historic wrongs,” the announcement added.
For some residents who now have to walk to either Olive or Belmont avenues to cross the freeway, the bridge — whenever it gets built — would cut the walking distance to Roeding Park from as much as a mile to as little as 300 feet, according to the city.
“We look forward to the opportunity provided by this bridge for families to enjoy the many benefits of Roeding Park in a safe and healthy manner,” said Fresno Housing Authority CEO Tyrone Roderick Williams.
When, where, and how much?
The grant requires the city to provide a 20% match, which means Fresno will pitch in about $150,000 for the planning of the project. City representatives were unable to provide details on the estimated price for actual construction or when construction may begin or be completed. A specific site for the bridge, somewhere between Olive and Belmont avenues, was also not provided by the city.
The planning stages for the bridge will include community participation, concept drawings, preliminary engineering and environmental analysis.
“This planning grant is just the first step to reconnecting the community to affordable housing, greenspace and family-friendly amenities” including the park and zoo, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said in a written statement. The bridge, he added, “will improve accessibility and walkability, connecting students and residents to the amenities and housing they desire.”
City Councilmember Miguel Arias, whose District 3 in southwest and west-central Fresno includes the Addams neighborhood, said the city has, since 2019, used an influx of state money in its efforts to transform the row of motels along Parkway Drive from a haven for prostitution, drugs and other criminal activity into a safe neighborhood for families.
