By Reporter Staff/
Posted: 06/30/2009
A construction worker uses heavy equipment to dig at the intersection of Peabody and Marshall roads. (Gilberto Ramirez / The Reporter)
Earth moving machines and construction workers are busy making an intersection near Will C. Wood High School just a bit safer and city officials hope to have the work done in time for the start of school in the fall.
The intersection at Peabody and Marshall roads is undergoing a massive overhaul as part of the Safe Routes to School program under the coordinated effort of Solano Transportation Authority, the city and the Vacaville Unified School District.
Vacaville's Deputy Director of Public Works Jeff Knowles said the project is designed to make the intersection more pedestrian friendly.
During the school year, more than 400 students walk through the intersection hourly, before and after school, while traffic backs up along the roadway, Knowles explained.
Once the project is completed, Marshall Road will have a second left turn lane onto Peabody. Peabody Road will also have a larger right turn lane onto Marshall.
The island that divides that right turn lane from the rest of Peabody will be much larger, to accommodate the big group of students waiting to cross the street. The sidewalk along Marshall on the high school side of the street will also be wider, creeping onto the school's property which the district gave to the city for the project.
Knowles said the work will not encroach on the Will C. Wood playing field or the track but only on the landscaped embankment.
So far, the project is on track and under budget, he said.
Eric Pessagno, an equipment operator from Vacaville and Arturo Garcia of Winters, work at the intersection of Peabody and Marshall roads on an effort to make the intersection safer for pedestrians. (Gilberto Ramirez / The Reporter)
