The Coast News Group
A sidewalk and landscaping will be added to where the sidewalk currently ends on Oceanside Blvd. Improvements will include handicap ramps. Photo by Promise Yee
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Sidewalk project set to begin this summer

OCEANSIDE — Sidewalk installation and landscaping is set to begin this summer on the south side of Oceanside Boulevard east of Interstate 5 to Crouch Street. 

Currently the south side of road that is traveled frequently by pedestrians to get to the Sprinter station lacks landscaping and is lined with rough gravel.

The project to make the travel way more pedestrian friendly was delayed for three years due to lack of funds.

“SANDAG awarded the city a $400,000 sidewalk Smart Growth grant,” Gary Kellison, senior civil engineer, said. “We’re marching ahead with design work.”

The city will kick in another $100,000 for the project that includes wheelchair landing areas right off bus stops, handicap ramps and basic landscaping.

“It’s the previous project slimmed down, basically,” Kellison said.

He added that previous plans budgeted $680,000 for “more intensive landscaping and numerous trees.”

The lower cost plan will have fewer trees, but still maintain the essential aids for pedestrian travel.

“The council always expressed the thought that it was a valuable project that benefits regional transit,” Kellison said. “It just makes sense for a lot of people.”

Work on the sidewalk and landscaping will begin the end of summer and is expected to be completed within a few months.