GREENFIELD — Greenfield City Council has approved $158,000 in road maintenance funds to repair five city street intersections that either have damaged ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps or none at all, and cross-gutters that cause flooding and safety hazards for vehicles.
“The city engineer has gone through the town and looked at the intersections and has identified five that are really in need of critical repair. They pose public safety hazards and issues,” said Mic Steinmann, community services director, at the May 23 council meeting. “There are deficiencies in the ADA ramps, so public crossing for ADA accessibility is severely compromised at a number of these locations.”
The five locations up for repairs are Fifth Street and Palm Avenue, Seventh Street and Elm Avenue, 10th Street and Walnut Avenue, Mariposa Circle and Calaveras Way, and Oak Avenue and Terracina Oaks II. According to Steinmann, the current condition of these intersections exposes the city to potential liability and adversely impacts the public’s health, safety and welfare.
“This is long overdue, especially at these locations on Fifth and Palm, Seventh and Elm. Those are some bad spots,” said Councilmember Lance Walker. “It’s time to take care of them.”
With those circumstances in mind, the city declared the repairs an emergency under its purchasing code, which allows for the suspension of the normal bidding process. Instead, it will contract with F. Loduca Co., which is already working on other street projects for the city, essentially speeding up the construction timeline.
“The purchasing code provides that the normal competitive bidding process can be suspended in the event of an emergency — some event that creates a hazard or a risk to public health, safety and welfare. And, given the nature of some of these intersections and the ADA access issues, that is an emergency in my mind,” Steinmann said.
Funding for the repairs will come from Measure X, a 3/8-percent countywide sales tax increase approved by voters last November to fund local road maintenance and safety projects. The City of Greenfield is expected to receive more than $300,000 in additional sales tax revenue each year for the next 30 years.
“This is the type of project that is appropriate for the use of those funds,” Steinmann said.
During public comment, residents voiced concerns over a few other intersections that are in need of repair as well, including Apple Avenue and El Camino Real, Eighth Street and Oak Avenue, Walnut Avenue and Highway 101 and the area around Oak Avenue Elementary School.
Steinmann said staff will look into improving other areas around the city in due course, but for now the focus is on the aforementioned five intersections identified by the city engineer.
“We’ll come up with a more comprehensive list. We’ll basically go throughout the city and identify other intersections and other areas where improvements are required and begin to develop a master list of the areas that require improvement,” he said. “This is just a start.”
