Houston Community Connectivity

The Houston Community, located between Mooney Boulevard and Dinuba Boulevard, is home to many students who attend Houston Elementary School, Highland Elementary School, and Green Acres Middle School. Thanks to the Active Transportation Program, the City of Visalia is afforded the opportunity to apply for grant funding to not only create safe routes to schools for the students but to also improve the connectivity for the Houston Community at large.

What is the Active Transportation Program?

The Active Transportation Program (ATP) is a statewide grant program, created by Senate Bill 99 and Assembly Bill 101, to encourage use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. The goals of the ATP are to:

• Increase the number of trips accomplished by biking and walking
• Increase the safety and mobility of non-motorized users. 
• Reduce greenhouse gas 
• Enhance public health
• Ensure disadvantaged communities fully share in the benefits of the program
• Provide a broad spectrum of projects to benefits many types of active transportation users. 

To be awarded grant funding, the City of Visalia must submit potential projects to be reviewed and scored. There are many different types of active transportation projects such as the Safe Routes to School projects. The defining characteristics and goals of a Safe Routes to School Project are to:

• Promote students to walk and/or bike to school
• Increase the safety and convenience for students to walk and/or bike to school

More information can be found on the grant’s website: http://catc.ca.gov/programs/active-transportation-program

Potential Project: Houston Community Connectivity

The Houston Community Connectivity Project will benefit the community located between Mooney Boulevard, Dinuba Boulevard, Prospect Avenue, and Murray Avenue as shown below:

Situated in and nearby this community is the Houston Elementary School, the Highland Elementary School, the Green Acres Middle School, homes, local eateries, convenience stores, grocery stores, churches, and a park. The Houston Community Connectivity Project will create neighborhood friendly paths to take around the community. 

Project Goals 

The goals of the HCCP is to promote active modes of transportation, such as walking and biking, in the Houston community by creating continuous path of travels to connect the homes, schools, and key neighborhood destinations. In doing so, the project will form safe routes to schools and improve the overall connectivity of the community at large by:

• Filling in missing gaps of sidewalks to create continuous paths
• Improving safety by reworking the crosswalks and curb ramps
• Adding safer bike lanes

Thank you for being an important part of this public feedback process.

For more information or questions about the grant application process, please contact Diego Corvera, Civil Engineer at (559) 713-4209 or [email protected].