’Nothing is slowing them down’ on this Madera County road heavily used by Fresno drivers
You’re at the corner of Herdon and Cedar avenues in northeast Fresno – perhaps after picking up the kids at John’s Incredible Pizza or tucking away some ginger chicken at Teriyaki Don – and need to head out of town via Highway 99 North.
What are your options?
The simplest, most direct route is to take Herndon westbound all the way to 99. Of course, that means contending with 22 stoplights and heavy traffic most of the day, plus the off chance you’ll get stuck by a passing freight train at Golden State Avenue.
You could also take Herndon the opposite direction, eastbound, through seven traffic signals to Highway 168 West (in reality, south), then join Highway 180 West to 99 North. Most of that is freeway driving, sure. But high-speed rail construction has turned the 180 to 99 North onramp into a nightmare. (It’s also nine miles out of the way.)
There’s a third option that’s used by anyone wishing to avoid Herndon’s endless stoplights or the unwanted excursion through downtown Fresno.
Take Herndon to Highway 41 North into Madera County. Exit at Children’s Boulevard and loop around past the hospital until Children’s Boulevard merges with Avenue 9. From there it’s a straight shot – no traffic lights or stop signs – all the way to 99.
Based on traffic studies, interviews with residents, business owners and public officials and my own driving experiences, Avenue 9 is used as a cutoff between Highways 99 and 41 by increasing numbers of Fresno and Clovis residents. (They also use Avenue 12 and, to a lesser extent, Avenue 15.)
“Years ago I’d be the only car out there,” said Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau, who frequently traveled Avenue 9 to service clients of his carpet-cleaning business in Madera. “Now you see Fresnans driving on Avenue 9 all the time.”
Unfortunately, many of them don’t obey the posted 55 mph speed limit. Increased traffic and excessive speed along the rural two-lane roadway have contributed to crashes resulting in at least eight fatalities since 2018, including a horrific accident in July of that year that resulted in five deaths.
“I drive 55 and people are stacked up behind me waiting to pass,” said a longtime Avenue 9 resident who asked that I not use her name. “It scares me to death.”
CHP: It’s ‘a dangerous situation’
What’s the California Highway Patrol doing to enforce traffic laws on Avenue 9?
I posed that question to Madera County CHP spokesman Gregorio Rodriguez and got a fairly startling response.
Because Avenue 9 has narrow, dirt shoulders in most places between Highways 99 and 41 – some areas close to Valley Children’s Hospital have no shoulder whatsoever – officers are reluctant to make traffic stops for fear of creating a bigger problem.
“We don’t want to cause a multi-vehicle accident to make a traffic stop,” Rodriguez said. “When officers have nowhere to turn around or pull over safely, it makes for a dangerous situation.”
A few months ago, Rodriguez said, CHP officers made a concerted effort to enforce speeds on Avenue 9. Except there was so much traffic and roadway conditions so unsafe they quickly cut bait.
By contrast, Avenue 12 has wide paved shoulders as well as a traffic signal and stop signs through Madera Ranchos that help control speeds.
Avenue 9 has none of that. And while recent roadway improvements created a less bumpy ride, they also allowed for faster speeds.
“There’s no traffic control out there,” Rodriguez said. “Nothing is slowing them down. People know it is their most direct and fastest route between 41 and 99.”
Fresno’s lack of foresight
To be certain, Fresnans using rural Madera County roadways is hardly a recent development.
When I covered Fresno State football in the early 2000s, recruits driving from the Bay Area or Sacramento were instructed to exit Highway 99 at Avenue 9 or Avenue 12 in order to enter Fresno via Highway 41.
Why? Because Bulldogs coaches wanted recruits (and their parents) to get a favorable first impression of California’s fifth-largest city, which meant avoiding 99 and Shaw Avenue. Instead, their first glimpse of Fresno included the gleaming shopping malls and business parks off Friant Road.
Nowadays, it’s not so much roadway aesthetics as all the stoplights on Herndon or the detour through downtown that many Avenue 9 drivers seek to avoid.
“Avenue 9 and Avenue 12 are Madera County roads, and almost 90% of the commuters are Fresno County drivers,” said Ahmad Alkhayyat, Madera County’s public works director.
Fresno’s freeway system leaves them with little choice. The city has three north-south highways (99, 41, 168) but only one east-west (180) that is inconvenient for anyone living on the north side of town.
Similar to the city’s much-maligned parks or the slow deterioration of downtown that is finally showing signs of reversal, the predicament can be blamed on poor planning and a lack of foresight.
Growth will only add to strain
The issue of safe driving on Avenue 9 figures to only get bigger. Madera County, especially the Highway 41 corridor closest to Fresno, is growing. Dotted with master-planned communities, the area could be home to 120,000 people in 25 or 30 years.
All those people will only add to the strain on roads like Avenue 9, a segment of which was recently closed for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant that’s part of the 3,000-home Gunner Ranch development near Valley Children’s Hospital.
“The traffic difficulties are not going to abate, they’re just going to get worse,” said Walt Whelan, owner of the Toca Madera Winery on Avenue 9.
Similar to Riverstone and Tesoro Viejo, the developers of Gunner Ranch will be required to do roadway improvements such as widening and installing traffic signals as the project reaches certain benchmarks. (I was unable to obtain specifics.)
Still, it’s fair to ask whether Madera County should be required to foot the bill for a road that is so heavily traveled by people in Fresno and Clovis.
After all, the situation on Avenue 9 wasn’t created by Madera County. It was created because Fresno’s roads and freeways are insufficient for a city of 530,000 residents. Not to mention the 117,000 living in Clovis.
County cooperation needed
Would Fresno County tax dollars ever be used to improve a Madera County road? Brandau made it clear that is a non-starter, even though he recognizes the need.
Instead, Brandau suggested the Boards of Supervisors from the two counties could form a joint powers authority, which would allow them to tackle transportation issues from a regional perspective and perhaps apply for more funding than they would get as a single entity.
This is an excellent idea, one that merits strong consideration.
“It’s not just Fresno impacting Madera County,” Brandau said. “As that part of Madera County grows, the impact on Fresno will be huge. Madera County residents will clog our streets and freeway onramps, at least for the next 20 or 30 years until they can get their own River Park out there.”
Fresno and Madera county politicians don’t exactly have a history of cooperation. There have been lawsuits and lawsuit threats over developments and shopping centers. Studies paid for by one county (such as another San Joaquin River crossing) have been roundly rejected by the other.
However, this is a time to set aside petty squabbles and do what’s best for everyone. Avenue 9 is so dangerous even the CHP doesn’t want to patrol it.
How many more people have to die on that road until something gets done?
Fourth in an ongoing series of columns by Marek Warszawski examining new growth in southern Madera County.
