County Center

The City of Visalia has completed the public outreach efforts for the Class IV and Protected Intersections proposal along County Center Dr between Houston Avenue and Riggin Avenue.

The result? A majority of those who took the survey support the Class IV Bike lanes and Protected Intersections proposal.

Considering the support for the bike lane proposal, City staff proceeded to incorporate the Class IV bike lanes and protected intersections into the project’s design. The County Center Drive Rehabilitation Project is now complete.

About the Project

 County Center Drive will be rehabilitated from Houston Avenue to Riggin Avenue. These improvements will consist of removing the existing asphalt and repaving the roadway, reconstructing curb returns to be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, address any storm drainage deficiency and restripe the roadway.

With the existing striping being completely replaced, there is an opportunity to evaluate the existing striping configuration and make improvements where feasible to the benefit all modes of travel.

The City of Visalia is proposing to incorporate protected bike lanes, technically known as Class IV bike lanes, along County Center Drive from Houston Avenue to Riggin Avenue. See below the existing striping configuration of County Center Drive alongside the proposed configuration:

Project Benefits

The incorporation of the Class IV bike lanes will provide a cost savings to the project, allowing the rehabilitation of County Center Drive to span from Houston Avenue to Riggin Avenue. Without the incorporation of the Class IV bike lanes we would only be able to rehabilitate approximately two-thirds of the corridor.

The Project will also incorporate “Protected Intersections” and their elements throughout the corridor.

The protected intersection will provide a more comfortable and safer way to make left turns by bike without having to merge across lanes of motor vehicle traffic. It will also feature a corner refuge island geometry to safely reduce the crossing distance for pedestrians and people on bikes, thus reducing the exposure of pedestrian and bikes within the intersection.

For more information on protected intersections, click here.

For more information or questions about the proposed protected intersections and bike proposal, please contact Diego Corvera, Senior Civil Engineer at (559) 713-4209 or [email protected].