Lodi resident Jon Ibarra pushes the crosswalk button before making his way to a ramp 100 feet behind him, on the corner of Lodi and Central avenues in front of El Molcaiete Market on Wednesday afternoon. Pedestrians, behind him, have to lift their baby carriage in order to get it onto the sidewalk. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

In need of a complete overhaul

Workshop set to improve Lodi Avenue

Most people don't think twice about navigating Lodi's streets and avenues.

Jon Ibarra doesn't have that luxury.

For the wheelchair-bound Ibarra, seemingly simple tasks like pushing the crosswalk button at an intersection or moving a stray shopping cart out of the way can be a huge challenge.

Just getting to the grocery store or the library is a perilous journey for the Lodi resident.

He takes out-of-the-way side streets and dodges traffic in the parking lots he's forced to cut through — almost always because there's no "curb-cut" or access to a sidewalk on a major route like Lodi Avenue, which Ibarra uses frequently.

"(It's) scary sometimes, actually," said Ibarra, who is 4-feet-1-inch, a paraplegic and has been hit twice by cars while traveling city streets.

"I'll realize the route I have to take ... and I'll realize that part of the route is really dangerous."

To help improve the situation Ibarra and others plan to attend a public workshop tonight at the LOEL Center. The meeting will focus on redesigning the eastern end of Lodi Avenue, from Sacramento Street to Cherokee Lane. In addition to access issues, the meeting will also cover everything from public art, to improved bike lanes, benches and landscaping on Lodi Avenue.

The city hopes to settle on a plan for the street, which is in need of a complete overhaul, said Paula Fernandez, a senior traffic engineer for the city.

Some residents during a workshop last fall asked that the avenue's four lanes be maintained, while others asked for fewer lanes and a more pedestrian-friendly feel to the avenue.

That could include wider sidewalks, more benches, bike racks and landscaping, to mention a few ideas.

Fernandez said the state has earmarked $2 million for the city to use. The money can't flow to the city, however, until the City Council approves a set of design guidelines for the project.

The $2 million — to be drawn from the state's Proposition 1C funds — will cover one of the main thrusts of the project: ripping up the railroad tracks that run along the stretch of Lodi Avenue and completely reconstructing the road.

It will also cover the cost of changing signal lights at Lodi Avenue and Cherokee Lane, and also at Lodi Avenue and Stockton Street, to improve the flow of traffic.

As for how many sidewalks, benches or other improvements will be made with that money, it's not clear, Fernandez said.

The public will play a large part in that by listing their priorities at tonight's meeting.

For Ibarra, adding small improvements like curb cuts and wider sidewalks would benefit both him and the neighborhood, he said.

That could lead to more of a community feel, perhaps leading some of the food markets on the avenue to add outdoor seating or fruit stands.

That environment would be better than the one Ibarra faces now, he said.

"What I'm leaning toward is whatever gets the cars to slow down, because that's what's the most dangerous," he added.

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.