Vallejo Times Herald - Officials praise downtown Vallejo street project, hope for more
August 8, 2013
By Jessica York
Officials local and distant took time Wednesday to recognize a milestone in plans to improve and modernize more than 14 blocks of the city's downtown.
The nearly $2 million Virginia Street streetscape project's ribbon cutting ceremony drew attention to city development efforts for the second time this week -- the first being a grand opening ceremony at the nearby Temple Art Lofts project.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, commended the benefits of government public infrastructure investments "that help real people with real jobs and spur the economy."
"What an exciting time for Vallejo," Thompson told a gathered audience of more than 100, including a large group of city staff members. "Whenever you can cut the ribbon on two major projects, that's what we call -- a very technical term for that -- that's big stuff. This is just an indication for more great stuff to come."
The block of Virginia Street in question, between Marin and Sacramento streets, has been under construction for the past year, and stretches in front of the Empress Theater and a city parking lot. It is the second downtown streetscape project completed in recent years, with at least two more expected.
Public Works Director David Kleinschmidt noted that these projects tend to have an economic impact on their area.
"It invigorates the business community to want to invest and bring business to the downtown," Kleinschmidt said, citing the Temple Art Lofts development. "Those kinds of developments are what's going to bring success and revitalization to the downtown. And we're looking forward to it."
The project included parking lot improvements, street narrowing to better-accommodate pedestrians, new sidewalks and street paving, lighting upgrades, new signage and more. Funding came from the combination of sources of a federal congestion mitigation and air quality funds, state grants and state Proposition 42 funds.
Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering, who serves as a member of the San Francisco Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said Vallejo's project represents what the agency is striving to produce across the region.
"It's ironic that we've come full circle here, today, from the 1950s," Spering told the crowd. "If you look at the qualities that downtowns had back in the '50s and '60s, it's time to restore those today."
The nearly $2 million Virginia Street streetscape project's ribbon cutting ceremony drew attention to city development efforts for the second time this week -- the first being a grand opening ceremony at the nearby Temple Art Lofts project.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, commended the benefits of government public infrastructure investments "that help real people with real jobs and spur the economy."
"What an exciting time for Vallejo," Thompson told a gathered audience of more than 100, including a large group of city staff members. "Whenever you can cut the ribbon on two major projects, that's what we call -- a very technical term for that -- that's big stuff. This is just an indication for more great stuff to come."
The block of Virginia Street in question, between Marin and Sacramento streets, has been under construction for the past year, and stretches in front of the Empress Theater and a city parking lot. It is the second downtown streetscape project completed in recent years, with at least two more expected.
Public Works Director David Kleinschmidt noted that these projects tend to have an economic impact on their area.
"It invigorates the business community to want to invest and bring business to the downtown," Kleinschmidt said, citing the Temple Art Lofts development. "Those kinds of developments are what's going to bring success and revitalization to the downtown. And we're looking forward to it."
The project included parking lot improvements, street narrowing to better-accommodate pedestrians, new sidewalks and street paving, lighting upgrades, new signage and more. Funding came from the combination of sources of a federal congestion mitigation and air quality funds, state grants and state Proposition 42 funds.
Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering, who serves as a member of the San Francisco Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said Vallejo's project represents what the agency is striving to produce across the region.
"It's ironic that we've come full circle here, today, from the 1950s," Spering told the crowd. "If you look at the qualities that downtowns had back in the '50s and '60s, it's time to restore those today."