Sidewalks Project in Final Phase

Cherryland, Calif., an unincorporated town between San Leandro to the north and Hayward to the south (San Francisco Bay area) is close to the dream of ?EUR??,,????'?????<

More than eight years after the walkway project began, Alameda County California officials' goal of bringing sidewalks to Cherryland is in its final phase.

The county’s redevelopment agency is seeking the public’s input for the third and final stage of the $15 million Cherryland sidewalks project.

Jaimie Benson, redevelopment manager for the agency, said construction on the final phase is expected to start sometime next year.

The project began in early 2003, when, with the help of the Cherryland Citizens Advisory Committee, the redevelopment agency identified six main streets — Western and Sunset boulevards, Willow, Princeton and Meekland avenues and Hampton Road — for major sidewalk, landscape and storm drainage improvements.
The streets were selected based on their proximity to schools, residential density and traffic collision history.

The goal of the project was to create what the agency calls “complete streets” for the area, roads that enable safe, attractive and comfortable access and travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transit users. Such streets create a “sense of place” and improve social and community interaction.

Phase one of the project was completed in 2007, with upgrades to sidewalks on Willow Avenue, Princeton Street, and Western and Sunset boulevards.

Hampton Road, which is phase two of the project, is undergoing sidewalk construction and other improvements and should be finished by year's end.

The final stage involves improvements along Meekland Avenue between Lewelling Boulevard and West A Street.

The project here also includes tree plantings, benches and decorative street lighting to help establish Meekland as a central corridor for the unincorporated area.

The project finish date is still a ways off: 2014.