Creston Road is a mix of homes, businesses, and schools. Paso Robles is working to make it safer, especially for students attending Daniel E. Lewis and Saint Rose Catholic School.
“Right now, Creston Road is a mixed bag of things. There are no ramps, there's no continuous pedestrian access," Ditas Esperanza, Capital Projects Engineer said. "And certainly, the bike path is not delineated properly as far as striping.”
Surveyors began setting controls for the Creston Road Sustainable Streets Corridor Project last week, but you likely won't begin seeing equipment in the area until early 2024.
“We started in the '90s to try to figure out what to do and it's been rather challenging," Esperanza said.
Phase one repairs will take place from South River Road to South of Orchard Drive. They will include a traffic signal at Walnut and Bolen, the installation of missing sidewalks, and improving Golden Hill to allow for truck traffic access.
“We are installing some push buttons, and pedestrian enhancements at Ivey, Trigo, and Orchard to assist kids crossing Preston Road," Esperanza commented.
Christian Mercado, the owner of Central Coast Smog on Creston Road says he witnessed two pedestrians get hit on Creston Road within months of each other - a lady clipped by a vehicle and a 17-year-old hit by a truck.
"The kid was (hit) around 7 p.m.," Mercado said. "He said he was coming from Centennial playing basketball, he was crossing, a truck came in that center, hit him, and left him there. The truck took off.”
Mercado says the road has needed repairs since he's owned the shop.
“I came here in 2015, so I know they did like, some sort of improvement, but it wasn't enough," Mercado said. "There are still large patches that need repairs.”
“I think people were really wanting to make sure that there's continuous safe pedestrian access," Esperanza commented.
Phase two will include work along Crerston Road to Niblick Road and will include a roundabout at Rolling Hills Road. Phase two begins once phase one is complete, which is expected to take anywhere between 12 to 18 months.
"Before it gets better, it's going to get worse," Esperanza said. "There's going to be traffic control and people needing to be patient as the construction is ongoing.”
