Residents press Merced council for sidewalks, street lighting and traffic fixes; staff proposes study session and CFD review

Residents from South Merced and other neighborhoods urged the City Council to prioritize sidewalks, street lighting and traffic safety at the town hall, citing gaps that limit pedestrian access and create hazards. Councilmembers and staff described existing projects and proposed a study session to explore financing options, including using Community Facilities District (CFD) methodology to sustain ongoing maintenance.

Andrea of Leadership Council summarized maps showing sidewalk gaps and said a majority of injury collisions and serious incidents occur in disadvantaged areas with missing sidewalks and lighting. She asked the city for a street‑lighting capital improvement agenda this quarter, public records on expenditures and a prioritized list of streets for lighting and sidewalk rehabilitation.

Councilmember Shane Smith said the city was preparing a study session on sidewalks and broader funding strategies and suggested examining a citywide resource or community facilities district to share maintenance costs across neighborhoods. City manager McBride explained that a CFD is a maintenance‑funding tool that can cover landscape and street‑light maintenance and that the city’s CFD rates have not been updated since 2004. ‘‘The rates need to be looked at differently,’’ staff said, and council discussed whether CFD methodology could be adapted to fund new or expanded street‑lighting maintenance without covering installation costs.

Traffic safety concerns were also raised. Mr. Grant asked about a planned roundabout at Highway 59 and Gerard that Caltrans told him is on schedule for June; he warned planned traffic diversions could increase local traffic near Farmdale Elementary and asked for restriping, lighting and other mitigations. Chief Stanfield reported that while traffic citations rose in 2025 and collisions fell, the department’s current speed survey has expired, temporarily limiting radar speed enforcement until a new survey is adopted by council.

Council and staff described recent capital investments—LED street-light upgrades, major sidewalk and path projects, park-related roadway improvements and prioritized road segments—but emphasized funding remains limited and that many needs exceed available resources.

Next steps: staff said they will schedule a study session to present options for CFDs or other resource‑district approaches, continue pursuing grant funds (e.g., CMAQ and other transportation grants) and coordinate with Caltrans and county partners on project timing for the Gerard/59 roundabout and related traffic mitigations.

Quotes are verbatim from town-hall remarks.