The City of Lathrop will be celebrating its 29th year of incorporation on Sunday, July 1, with festivities at the Lathrop Generations Center.
And anybody wishing to drive past that area on the evening of the event, which begins at 6 p.m., will be met with road closed signs.
The Lathrop City Council last week authorized the temporary closure of Spartan Way from west of Lathrop High School to the Lathrop Generations Center starting at 5:45 p.m. and lasting until the end of the community function. It will be capped off with a fireworks show being launched from the street at Barbara Terry Boulevard and the south edge of what will eventually become a park.
This year the City of Lathrop will be utilizing the parking lot at nearby Lathrop High School to allow residents to park and walk across the street to the Lathrop Generations Center to participate in the festivities. The road closure is being planned to allow for safe passage of pedestrians to and from the event without having to hold up traffic – creating a safer environment for both pedestrians and motorists.
With the closure still in place, guests who park in the school’s west parking lot will exit to the right upon leaving the school and continue on Land Park Drive to Golden Valley Parkway to leave the site. Those parking in the east parking lot will turn left and exit along a closed lane of Spartan Way back the way that they came in – avoiding a traffic jam and allowing for an organized exit once the fun is over.
According to the staff report, local property owners have been contacted and authorizations have been granted for the plan – the first time that the City of Lathrop will be using it to calm traffic issues along the chokepoint which can back up vehicles being that Spartan Road is the main access point for both the Lathrop Generations Center and Lathrop High School.
Volunteers from the Sheriff’s Team of Active Retired Seniors (STARS) will be on hand to staff the road closure, and volunteers for the Lathrop Parks and Recreation Department will staff all intersections to help control traffic flow in a calm and efficient manner.
Multi-passenger golf carts will be utilized to help transport people from the parking lots to the event – making it easier for seniors and those who have trouble walking between the two points.
