California bullet train construction will close these Fresno streets for more than a year
A cluster of streets including Church Avenue in south Fresno will be closed for more than a year starting next week to allow for construction of a new overpass to carry traffic up and over future high-speed rail tracks.
Church Avenue is slated to be closed between Golden State Boulevard and Orange Avenue, a stretch of about 3,700 feet. That section will be replaced by the new overpass that will span not only the future bullet-train line now under construction through Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley, but also two existing nearby sets of freight rail tracks.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority and its contractor, Tutor-Perini/ Zachry/ Parsons, estimate that the work will begin Monday and continue through September 2025. In addition to Church Avenue, related streets facing closure during the construction work include:
- G Street between California and Cherry avenues.
- The northbound off-ramp from Golden State Boulevard onto G Street.
- Florence Avenue east of Railroad Avenue.
- Railroad Avenue between Florence and Jensen avenues.
- Belgravia Avenue between G Street and East Avenue.
- East Avenue between Florence Avenue and Church Avenue.
The rail agency is holding a community meeting from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday (April 13) for nearby residents and businesses about the future overpass, street closures, traffic management and detours, and access to homes and businesses in the area. The meeting is at Sequoia Middle School, 4050 E. Hamilton Ave. The rail authority and contractor report that access will be maintained to all businesses and property owners.
Detours are being provided with signs to direct traffic around the closed streets. Traffic heading west on Church Avenue will be detoured south on Orange Avenue to Jensen Avenue, west on Jensen to Golden State Boulevard, and then west on Church.
Eastbound traffic on Church will be directed south on Golden State to Jensen, east on Jensen to Cedar Avenue, and north on Cedar to Church.
The Church Avenue overpass is one of many new structures, including viaducts, overpasses and trenches, that are part of the first 32-mile construction contract awarded in 2013 for work from north of Madera to American Avenue south of Fresno.
Two other construction stretches are also in progress: one for about 65 miles from American Avenue to the Tulare-Kern county line, and another for 22 miles from the Tulare-Kern line to northwest of Shafter.
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 5:09 PM.
