DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — Closure of Dover Parkway has caused an increase in traffic in nearby streets and residential areas for over a year. Its reopening looks to take the pressure off Woollomes Avenue.
- Dover Parkway in Delano has been closed off from the public for the past year and a half due to complications with construction going on along the road.
- City officials say this has been a growing concern for the public and a hot topic in the city council meetings.
- With the street being open for about a week now, the goal is to take drivers away from Woollomes Avenue and keep them out of the surrounding residential areas that drivers have used as an alternate route
- Commuters that take Woollomes must deal with traffic from people exiting the marketplace, deal with the entry and exit to Highway 99, as well as the train running across Woollomes, and the 4 way stop sign at the end of the road.
Delano residents are no stranger to the traffic off of Woollomes Avenue. A hot topic of conversation at city council meetings according to city officials. The traffic nightmare is now coming to an end with the completion of the dover parkway reconstruction.
“This road was put out of commission for a year and a half,” said Delano City council woman Liz Morris.
Morris says the road was shut down due to alleged complications stemming from the construction of the DMV building along side Dover Parkway.
According to Morris, the reconstruction of Dover Parkway was tasked to the DMV in its building contract and when the project was put to a halt, so was the usage of the parkway.
With Dover parkway closed until further notice, Morris says residents were forced to find alternatives like driving through residential areas to reach Woollomes Avenue.
However this only resulted in more issues as an over usage of Woollomes avenue contributed to it becoming a high traffic area.
“There’s a long long traffic line you know coming out of the market place,” said Morris. “If you were going down the freeway to Woollomes you know over the bridge there’s a longer line.”
Morris says drivers have also been cutting through residential area to get to places like the market place, which have caused an uproar in residents regarding street safety.
“We put up signs you know the speed limit and all those things to try to deter you know how fast the traffic moves through there but you can imagine you know with children playing outside it’s a great concern,” said Morris.
The reopening of Dover Parkway is huge for the residents of Delano but city officials say thats not the only traffic project. A Flyover is set to be built over hwy 99, connecting the east and west side of the city to continue to alleviate traffic on Woollomes Avenue.
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