Modesto moves forward with College Avenue road diet

The Modesto City Council on Tuesday night took the final step to put in a traffic calming device on College Avenue called a road diet and declined a request from the Stanislaus Taxpayers Association to change the ballot language of a tax measure.

The council voted 6-1 to award a $1.49 million contract to VSS International of West Sacramento for improvements to Ninth Street and College Avenue, including the road diet. Councilman Bill Zoslocki voted “no” because of his concerns that the diet could worsen traffic.

The diet is slated for 1.6 miles on College from Needham Street to Briggsmore Avenue. It consists of changing the lane markings, converting College from four lanes to one lane in each direction and a center lane for left turns.

The extra space from reducing the number of lanes creates more room for cars parked along the street, a bike lane on each side of the street and a buffer between the bike lanes and traffic. The diet includes features to help traffic move, including right-hand turn lanes at major intersections.

The contract also calls for VSS to slurry seal that section of College as well as Ninth Street from Carpenter to Tully roads – a distance of about 1.5 miles – and adding a bike path along Ninth to connect Modesto Junior College’s east and west campuses.

City officials have said the road work should begin in early August. The contract gives VSS International 80 working days to complete the project.

City officials have said road diets have been used successfully for many years throughout the nation, and they slow traffic, reduce accidents and increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The College Avenue road diet has received strong community support but also has its detractors. They fear reducing the number of travel lanes on College will snarl traffic and cause cars to back up at traffic lights. They also believe drivers will spill onto nearby streets to avoid College.

Princeton Avenue resident Dennis Wilson reiterated those concerns Tuesday and added a new one. He said his research shows road diets can work in some circumstances but not when the road passes by a school, as in this case, in which College Avenue passes MJC’s east campus.

Stanislaus Taxpayers Association members reiterated their call for the council to take up their concerns regarding Measure G, the city’s one-half percent general sales tax that will appear on the November ballot.

The association claims the ballot language is misleading and violates the law because it “reads like a campaign advertisement in favor of the measure” instead of providing neutral, nonpartisan language, according to a letter the association sent to the city last week.

The association claims the impartial analysis of the tax prepared by the city attorney’s office also is biased in favor of the tax.

Council members and city officials said nothing Tuesday after association members repeated their call for changes. Mayor Garrad Marsh said after the meeting the tax measure and analysis are legal and the council would not be discussing the association’s concerns.

Association President Dave Thomas – who was not able to attend the council meeting – said city officials are treating the public with disdain because they are not willing to discuss his group’s concerns.

The association in its letter threatened the city with legal action if the city did not address its concerns. Thomas said the association still has hope that the council will discuss its concerns at a public meeting. But that may prove difficult.

Michael Coleman – the League of California Cities fiscal policy adviser – reviewed Measure G’s ballot language and impartial analysis at The Bee’s request. He said the language was straightforward and typical of what other cities use in their ballot measures and analyses for sales tax increases.

Thomas discounted Coleman’s conclusions because of his association with the league, which he claimed was dedicated to teaching its members how to increase their tax revenues.

Measure G comes after Modesto voters rejected Measure X, the 1-percent general sales tax the city put on the November 2013 ballot. It required a simple majority to pass and received 49 percent of the vote despite a city-commissioned poll showing strong support for the tax.

The taxpayers association opposed Measure X. Thomas said the association has not taken a position on Measure G.

Measure G is expected to bring in about $14 million annually over its eight-year life. As a general tax, it can be used for any general government purpose. But city officials say their intention is to spend the tax primarily on public safety, such as hiring more police officers.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Modesto moves forward with College Avenue road diet."