A construction contract was awarded by the Ceres City Council Monday evening for a $2.8 million upgrade to Smyrna Park.

McFadden Construction Inc. was the selected bidder on the work which will start soon. A 10 percent contingency brings the total contract to $3.23 million. The contract was authorized along with design work contracts for a number of street repairs.

Most of the work in Smyrna Park is being paid for by a Clean California Local Grant Program (CCLGP) grant administered by Caltrans. The project will also use $1.3 million of federal ARPA funds.

Smyrna Park was determined to be in the highest need for improvement of all Ceres parks based on greatest community use, age of facilities, the high volume of vandalism and graffiti, security concerns and increased maintenance costs.

Ceres City Engineer Kevin Waugh said many of the park’s features cannot be used because of safety or maintenance issues. The park also doesn’t have enough pathways and covered picnic areas. The city designed new improvements based on community input.

“We are excited to see the progress as we work towards a grand reopening in July of 2024,” he said.

One of the biggest changes will be the demolition of the large picnic shelter built by the Ceres Lions Club along Fowler Road and using that space for a new parking lot. Two separate covered pavilion areas will be constructed in a new plaza located where the existing Fowler Road parking lot is.

“We’re actually substituting that big one with two equal sized ones but not one big one so we can rent it out to more families,” said Waugh.

One will be covered by a similar metal structure while the other will be covered with sail cloth shade structures. They will be located where the existing Fowler Road parking lot it located. 

The parking lot off of Rose Avenue will stay remain but there will be improved sidewalks built to and from it, as well as the installation of bicycle racks.

“Basically what happened is everybody’s just creating their own paths through the park,” said Waugh, “and we’re trying to utilize the natural flow but also make it better suited to people with wheelchairs so they could enjoy the park more. So we’re going to be providing pathways throughout the park.”

The project calls for some trees to be removed and 100 trees to be planted, as well as drought tolerant landscaping, architectural fencing, walkways with ramps for the disabled, new shade structures, more tables with barbecue pits and new trash enclosures. The old masonry block restroom will be razed.

Waugh wanted to do more to the children’s playground but the budget wasn’t there. Upgrades to the playground equipment will have to await funding.

Once the city makes room at its corporation yard on Railroad Avenue, Waugh would like to see the city yard inside Smyrna Park abandoned and used for pickle ball courts.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” added Waugh.

Whitmore Avenue project

O’Dell Engineering was tapped by the council to design the street repairs for a one-mile stretch of Whitmore Avenue between Morgan and Crowslanding roads. The contract will cost the city $244,534.

The section of roadway needs complete rehabilitation as it has severe asphalt cracking, rutting, and structural deficiencies that will only worsen with continued use and future rain. Besides repaving the road, curb ramps will need to be reconstructed to meet ADA compliance, and the removal and replacement of damaged curb and gutter, and replacing dry wells to handle storm water.

The city expects work on Whitmore to take place in April or May of next year.

Bike lanes to be designed

The council also awarded a $173,840 contract to TL Engineering of Los Banos to design three miles of bike lanes on:

• Herndon Avenue from Hatch Road to Central Avenue;

• El Camino Avenue from Whitmore Avenue to Don Pedro Road;

• and Eastgate Boulevard from Hatch Road to Whitmore Avenue.

The city has received federal funding through the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) program to build the bike lanes.

Improvements include widening portions of road by three feet, centerline realignment, installing shoulder backing, pavement striping, markings, signage for bike lanes, repairing asphalt pavement and micro-surfacing bike lane areas.

The TL Engineering contract will be paid for out of Measure L tax revenues.

The council approved a second contract with TL Engineering to design the continuation of the Hatch Road bike path from Eastgate Boulevard to Faith Home Road. The contract is for $90,035.

The 12-foot-wide asphalt lane will only be three-tenths of a mile long with shoulder, striping, markings, signage, lighting, safety fencing, bollards and minor storm drain improvements. The path is on the bank of a Turlock Irrigation District (TID) canal and will be adjacent to a private ranch.

The right of way available for a bike path has not been confirmed and the City of Ceres and TID will need to negotiate an agreement to allow the project to proceed.

The proposed bike path will complete the last linkage to the east city limit and connect to the 4.6 miles of the Class I multi-use path.