Yuba County improves roads with safe routes to school program, neighbors say it's not enough

LINDA — Yuba County's Safe Routes to School project continues to improve roads by adding curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

Next up will be Garden Avenue in the West Linda area, but people who live there say the biggest problem they're facing is the speeding drivers—and they aren't sure if this will solve that.

With a price tag of nearly $4 million, the Safe Routes to School project will improve Garden Avenue near Cedar Lane Elementary School. It's an area neighbors say is unsafe for pedestrians or cyclists.

"I live two blocks from the elementary school and it's crazy. You got to yank your kids out of the road sometimes when people are coming around these corners," said a mom who lives nearby. She did not want to be identified.

"Linda and Olivehurst communities in Yuba County, they were never planned communities. They just sort of sprouted up from the community many moons ago and now we're going back to invest in these communities and make it safer," said Yuba County spokesperson Rachel Abbott.

Garden Avenue currently has no sidewalks or curbs. There's no place for pedestrians to walk other than in the street with the traffic.

"We love the idea of sidewalks. We like the idea of the new road, but the softer road, the flatter the road, the more we're going to have speeders," the mom said.

She said her street's biggest concern is drivers doing high speeds and that the only thing that might stop them is speed bumps, something not in the design plan for this project.

"It's very unsafe so this project seeks to solve that," Abbott said. "This project will create safe spaces for bicyclists and pedestrians to walk away from the roadway."

Construction will begin mid to late August. The county received state funding to put in curbs, sidewalks, gutters for drainage during the winter months, bike paths, and crosswalks.

"Safety here is of the utmost concern. This is a big step toward that. Again, making things safer for pedestrians [and bicyclists], hopefully, will have an impact on driving as well," Abbott said.

We did reach out to the California Highway Patrol about speeding incidents in that area. They are pulling those stats for us and we'll update you once we have them.

Construction on Garden Avenue will run through early 2025.