The City of Ripon is hoping to qualify for a pair of projects via the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program.
At Wednesday’s special meeting, the Ripon City Council requested the installation of traffic signals at the intersection of West Colony Road and Hoff Drive – adjacent to the Highway 99 on /off ramp near the Chevron Station – as the top priority.
Councilman Leo Zuber noted that the four-way stop intersection is an accident waiting to happen, especially with “cars going on and off the freeway,” he said.
The Colony / Hoff traffic signal project qualifies for the CMAQ Program because it can “improve traffic moments through the intersection, resulting in lower air emissions from vehicles,” according to Engineering Supervisor James Pease in his staff report.
Total cost is estimated at $660,000, with $260,000 of that coming from the City Street & Road Fund and $400,000 from the CMAQ request.
The other project calls for the installation of sidewalks along Stockton Avenue between Second Street and Doak Boulevard.
“The proposed scope of this project includes the installation of sidewalk in areas currently without, replace any existing sidewalk that does not meet accessibility standards, and install handicap ramp,” Pease said.
Staff believes that by installing the sidewalk it could mean closing a major gap in the pedestrian access on the south side of the city, in turn, encouraging more pedestrian traffic while resulting in fewer vehicles on the road for lower emissions.
Cost for this project is about $530,000. Of that, $280,000 would be earmarked from the City Street & Road Fund while the remaining $250,000 could come from the CMAQ request.
Both grant applications are due to the San Joaquin Council of Governments for the Jan. 13 meeting,
From there, the SJCOG board is expected to take action on approving CMAQ-funded projects on Feb. 23.
Pease said that about $23.6 million of grant money is available for eligible projects in SJC.
Ripon is no stranger to the CMAQ program, receiving funding here for the Jack Tone Road Park and Ride Lot Project in 2014 along with a portion of the funding going to the new Compressed Natural Gas Refuse Truck scheduled for delivery in 2017.

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com.