City of Modesto invests $5.4 million into Scenic Drive
MODESTO — The City of Modesto announced a $5.4 million project on Scenic Drive that will include renovations like new storm drains, pavement and street lights.
"In 2017, we began the planning for a five-year plan for improvements, and this was one of the projects included in that original plan. So it has been in development for some time," Modesto City Engineer Toby Walls said.
The city paid $16.5 million in a legal settlement after a family was critically injured in a car crash on Scenic Drive back in 2016.
"There are accidents all the time... There's always cars hitting each other, the rain and all that too," said Danielle Oliveira, who owns a salon on Scenic Drive.
Oliveira said her salon has flooded four times in the three years she's been open.
"They would open the storm drains up, but they wait until the floods get so built up, and then they open it up, and then they release the water too late," Oliveira said.
Walls said that fixing the pavement will in turn fix the storm drain issue.
"Stormwater is an enemy of pavement. So what happens with pavement is if you have water standing on the pavement, it's going to cause cracks and it ultimately leads to the pavement failing sooner," he said. "So the primary goal is improving the pavement and the drainage is part of that, so that it'll last longer. So the ancillary benefit there is that the roadway will now last longer and then not flood. So it is multiple mutually beneficial so that you have both aspects controls, but it will help for those residents that do see some more ponding than the normal."
Walls said construction will start either in the summer or fall and take about one year. Residents should expect delays.
