Ivanhoe Celebrates Completion of Crosswalk

Members of the Ivanhoe Sol, members of the Ivanhoe Community Council, and Supervisor Eddie Valero stand in the new crosswalk. Photo: Pedro Hernandez, The Ivanhoe Sol

By Pedro Hernandez, Ivanhoe Sol

After years of advocacy and efforts to hold Tulare County responsible for its prior commitments, a crowd of roughly 20 Ivanhoe residents and local county planners gathered on the intersection of Avenue 159 and 328 to celebrate the completion of a crosswalk. 

The new crosswalk allows for community members and employees of Klink Citrus to safely across Avenue 328. The enhanced safety project includes a visible crosswalk, sidewalk improvements, and warning lights. With the increased safety measure, Ivanhoe residents have placed a free library box at the intersection of Avenues 159 and 328. 

Many residents identified safety risks caused by the interaction of high speed traffic and pedestrians trying to cross the street. Most all Ivanhoe residents are familiar with the role that Avenue 328 plays as one of the only roads that allows people to drive through the community for work, school, and recreation. However, the street design only prioritized vehicular travelers despite the yearlong presence of pedestrian traffic. 

Long time coming

Pedestrian safety on Avenue 328 has been a concern for years. Visalia Unified School District Trustee Juan Guerrero shared he conducted meetings to raise awareness in the community in the 1990s. Connie Vela Solorio, a long time Ivanhoe community advocate said this was an effort years in the making. “Yes, it’s been a long time. My daughter, my youngest one is 31 and I started this when she was four years old. I always wanted this to happen.” 

Reed Schenke, lead for Tulare County’s Resource Management Department, reflected: “It’s not a huge project but I like bridges and crosswalk projects because they really are a symbol. It’s bridging a gap, it’s bringing two things together. It bridges the community from the north to south and allows kids and the community to cross safely.”

More projects on the way

Schenke also announced additional projects in the upcoming years. “We’ve got a number of projects coming forward in the next few years. The next one you’ll see is on Avenue 328 we got a safety improvement project coming, some left turn lanes so that’ll  primarily be for vehicular traffic that is going into and out of Ivanhoe. Following about a year later, we got Road 160 over here there’s pretty substantial sidewalk project from the railroad tracks to the elementary school…And then one project that’s in the works with Caltrans is that they submitted applications for grants for crosswalks and improvements at the intersection of the railroad tracks and State Route 216 so a lot of good things in the works for Ivanhoe.” 

With many projects coming in the future, community member Jesse Arrellano closed the meeting with a reminder of the teamwork that had helped complete this project. “When a group of people share a common dream or work together to reach a common goal their desired goal can be reached through effective cooperation. Everyone’s role will be different but when delegated effectively, everyone’s contribution will matter.”

The Ivanhoe Sol will continue to follow the developments with the future road infrastructure developments coming to Ivanhoe within the next few years. Congratulations, Ivanhoe.