Farmersville breaks ground on road widening, bike/ped project

Monday, July 26

The City of Farmersville celebrated the beginning of a new phase of road improvements on Monday, July 26, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the long-awaited Farmersville Boulevard improvement project. The road improvement project, which will include sidewalks and a bike path that extend from the TID Canal to Walnut Avenue, is a welcome extension of the road improvements made with the Farmersville Boulevard roundabout at Noble Avenue completed in 2016.

In fact, the new Farmersville Boulevard’s improvements are made possible thanks to the funds saved by the Farmersville exit roundabouts. Farmersville Mayor Paul Boyer said that choosing the roundabouts over congestion management alternatives like traffic signals or highway lane widening saved the city approximately $30 million in funds that can now be used for additional road improvement projects.

The Farmersville Boulevard improvements and the roundabouts, as well as the Visalia Road improvements and Walnut Avenue Safe Route to School project, are funded in part by Measure R, a half-cent sales tax initiative passed in 2006 to fund transportation projects in Tulare County.

Projecting his voice over the sound of excavators already digging into west shoulder of Farmersville Boulevard, Mayor Boyer thanked the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG), the contractors and designers involved with the project, past and current city councils who encouraged these and other improvements, and “Tulare County voters for their wisdom in passing Measure R.”

Mayor Boyer said that these road improvements will help reduce traffic congestion and provide a safer drive while also attracting more jobs and businesses. Vice Mayor Tina Hernandez agreed, saying “I am happy to see the progressive steps forward, and I hoping to see new business come into the area” as a result of the road improvements. Farmersville City Council members Greg Gomez, Ruben Macareno, and Danny Valdovinos also voiced their support and thanks.

TCAG Principal Regional Planner Elizabeth Forte also addressed the crowd of stakeholders, which included Tulare County supervisors Eddie Valero and Larry Micari. Forte congratulated the city of Farmersville while thanking TCAG board members for making Measure R projects like this possible. “We are happy to help out,” Forte said, and then addressed questions about extending the new improvements further south along Farmersville Blvd. “We can’t promise what will happen south of Walnut Avenue, but we are definitely looking at it.” Forte reported. “It’s part of our future plans.”

The Farmersville Blvd. widening and improvement project is expected to cost approximately $12 million; these costs include $3 million going toward preliminary engineering and right of way acquisition, and nearly $9 million toward the construction and construction management phase.