Turlock plans $2 million remake of Fulkerth, Golden State crossing

A major Turlock intersection bordering the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds will be partially closed through a chunk of 2017, with the city putting out to bid for a $2 million makeover at Golden State Boulevard and Fulkerth Road.

Dates of work are not specified, but there is a four-month window to finish the project, which will better align the east-west flow and add pedestrian safety measures.

At least one traffic lane in both directions should remain open through most of the project, according to the bid specifications. The bid will be opened Jan. 12 and is expected to be awarded Feb. 14. The engineer’s estimate for the project is $1,984,000, with an option to upgrade paving to a rubber overlay if funding allows.

The contractor will have to negotiate a timeline with the Union Pacific Railroad, whose tracks run alongside Golden State Boulevard, meeting the east-west thoroughfare at an angle.

Hawkeye Avenue to the east and Fulkerth Road to the west meet and trade names at midintersection. Both will get second left-turn lanes with dedicated turn signals in the redesign. The new signals include vehicle-triggered sensors.

The fairground, on the intersection’s southwest corner, appears to keep its longtime main parking lot entry off Fulkerth, but a concrete divider will permanently end left turns for fairgoers heading home. This year’s fair will be July 14-23, meaning construction must start by mid-March. The fairground’s other big draw, the Turlock Swap Meet, will be Jan. 28-29 and will not be affected.

Across Golden State Boulevard from the fairground is the Turlock transit hub, a landscaped parking area set to get an office and restroom in the near future. Across Hawkeye to the north, a small commercial center with Los Gallos restaurant will remain open throughout the construction.

A block further east sits the main city recreation area, 40-acre Donnelly Park, with its new skate park. To the west, Fulkerth Road connects with Highway 99 less than a half-mile away, just past the Walmart shopping center.

The Golden State-Fulkerth-Hawkeye intersection has among the worst safety records in Turlock, with all three roads listed among the top 10 collision corridors for bicycles and pedestrians in the city’s Active Transportation Plan.

The plans call for two new pedestrian safety islands and the remake of an existing island. Sidewalks will be added crossing the tracks on the north and south sides of Fulkerth Road.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Turlock plans $2 million remake of Fulkerth, Golden State crossing."