The HAWK crosswalk was brought online on Wednesday, and neighbors say it’s already making a difference.
STOCKTON, Calif. — After years of pleas from people who live in Stockton’s Victory Park neighborhood, residents finally have a new tool they hope will make their streets safer: a HAWK crosswalk signal at Pershing Avenue and Rose Street.
“We had people who were running unsafely. People were getting hit. We even had accidents over the years,” said Stockton City Councilman Mario Enriquez, who represents the area. “We wanted to ensure that safety is a priority.”
The city officially activated the signal on Wednesday. The crosswalk includes a red light that forces traffic to stop when pedestrians are crossing. It also includes lights and a speaker system alerting walkers when its safe to cross.
“People have been fighting for this for seven, eight, nine years,” Enriquez said. “So to have this built finally means a lot to our residents here in Stockton.”
Neighbors and midtown runners say crossing the street has long been a challenge.
“It’s hard just to cross from the neighborhood to (the park). We have to wait extremely long, and sometimes people are a bit — I don’t know how to say it — speed racers,” said Jose Quintana, who lives near the park. “It would be nice to have (a crosswalk) on at least each side of the corners of the park.”
Pete Beck, who lives in Midtown and uses the new crosswalk, says that speeding on Pershing Avenue is a regular occurrence.
“It just makes it much easier and safer to get to Victory Park,” said Beck. “It’s a major thoroughfare and people are generally in a hurry, I guess, so something that can tone it down would be beneficial.”
Enriquez said the broader effort to calm traffic isn’t finished. He said the city is working with Caltrans on a possible roundabout at the nearby freeway offramp to further slow drivers.
The project cost the city about $4 million, and similar crosswalks are planned for seven other neighborhoods in South Stockton.
“We are continuously looking at Pershing Avenue nonstop, for me it’s a priority,” said Enriquez. “We’re looking at the entire street to really slow down because this is one good start, but we have to think about everything all the way moving north.”
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