In the near future, pedestrians and bicyclist will be able to cross East 20th Street safely on a bridge that will link the Chico Mall parking lot to Walmart and the Skyway.
While pedestrians and bicyclists can cross East 20th at the intersection, there are dangers involved according to statistics provided by the city.
During the past year, there were numerous community meetings held in order to choose the design out of three choices preferred by the community.
In the course of public comments, several residents stated that the bridge would be safer while also encouraging more people to walk or bike which can help reduce obesity as well as other health concerns such as diabetes and air pollution from car emissions. Even experienced bikers said they will not ride their bike to the mall as crossing the 20th street intersection is too dangerous.
Of the three designs, the city council has approved the design Tree City as this was most supported by the community and would have much less effect on traffic and business during the construction of the bridge.
The results of a feasibility study that was done can be found at Bikeway 99.
The pedestrian and bicycle bridge alone is expected to cost $14.7 million add to that the $809,000.00 for the city staff’s time and expenditures brings the grand total up to $15,509,000.00. Of that $15,509,000.00million, the city will apply for a Caltrans grant of $12,860,000.00.
According to Public Works Engineering Director Brendan Ottoboni that grant money will be used whether the city applies or not, so Chico should apply to appropriate the grant money and bring it to the community in order to build the bridge to give pedestrians and bicyclists safe crossing at the East 20th Street intersection which is East of Highway 99.
If the grant money is obtained it still leaves $2,649,000.00 to be paid and no information is available on where that money will come from or how soon and how much interest on it will need be paid if done so in installments.
The city council voted unanimously 6-0, as Mayor Sean Morgan was absent, to approve the endorsed design as well as to give permission to city staff to apply for grant funding.
The bridge is slated to begin in 2020 but will take up to two years to complete. So pedestrians and bicyclists will have a bit of a wait before they can begin using the bridge that will take them from the Chico Mall parking lot all the way to the Skyway without the dangers of crossing a busy intersection like 20th street. However, once it is completed they will certainly be able to enjoy a nice safe ride or walk to the mall and back.