The City of Ripon is looking at ways to make an area of downtown more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

On March 12, the Ripon City Council hired the transportation consulting services of GHD to help provide the following:

Multimodal safety improvements for all modes of transportation.

Low-stress bicycle routes and improvement identification.

Pedestrian crossing, path, and rest / gathering areas.

Improved wayfindings (signs, landmarks and other indicators to assist people in navigating the area).

No discussion was necessary as GHD will look to prepare the Downtown Transportation Study to identify sidewalk, alley, street, and parking improvements within the areas of Stockton Avenue, Second Street, Acacia Avenue and Frontage Road, according to the report by City Administrator Kevin Werner.

Elected leaders adopted a policy in 2014 to allocate 33 percent of the general fund surplus for the reconstruction of streets and roads, in particular, those that have failed and require much-needed work.

In December, $1.9 million became available in the Street & Road Reserve fund, making possible to use $36,200 for the cost of GHD to complete the study.

Werner indicated that once the draft is completed, staff will forward the Downtown Transportation Study to the City Council for comments.