STOCKTON, Calif. — Stockton native Katya Evanoe can remember the days when Pershing Avenue near Acacia Street was a "calm boulevard with trees on both sides," next to a busy and well-loved Victory Park.
Now, decades later, Evanhoe describes the same avenue as a dangerous speedway.
"It's just become a speedway, I think the city just let it go," Evanhoe said. "There's no traffic control."
Evanhoe says after an exit was added decades ago from northbound Interstate 5 onto Pershing Avenue, cars have been funneling in from the busy freeway directly into a residential neighborhood. She said the area began seeing more crashes and fewer people enjoying the neighborhood, including its park.
She says neighbors have been avoiding going to the park across the street out of fears of getting hit while crossing or witnessing a high-speed accident.
"I live on the east side of Pershing. We don't even go to that park, that beautiful Victory Park," Evanhoe said. "They go to other parks or they get in their cars and they'll drive over to the park because they're afraid to cross with their kids or their dogs."
When a five-car pileup on Pershing Avenue just north of Acacia Street sent firefighters, paramedics, and police officers racing into the neighborhood in 2021, Evanhoe and others decided to come together.
"It just really reignited the fear in a lot of the neighbors," Evanhoe said. "We are constantly on it together. We meet once a month."
Friday, the group of neighbors celebrated a victory when Stockton changed the intersection at Acacia Street and Pershing Avenue to allow for 11 seconds of pedestrian-only traffic before one traffic light turns green. The change may only be a matter of seconds, but for Evanhoe and neighbors, it means improving access to more of their neighborhood.
"You don't realize what 10 or 11 seconds can do," Evanhoe said. "I crossed over this morning with a couple and their two dogs, and they were really remarking on 'oh my gosh, it's giving us more time to cross over'."
The changes to the crosswalk come after community members raised funds to purchase a large banner reminding drivers of the 30 mph speed limit in December.
Evanhoe says the state gave the city a grant to purchase and install a HAWK signal for the crosswalk, which she expects to be installed within three years. She also says police patrols in the area have increased, and the city has installed new speed limit signs.
According to Evanhoe, Caltrans is also in the process of analyzing the area and has reached out to the group of community members to bring more improvements.
In the meantime, Evanhoe and community members are continuing their campaign and meetings to make more improvements and bring the neighborhood back to its state of calm and beauty.
"We're focused on the fact that we cannot rest. We're not naïve, we're focused on the fact that it's this is a long-haul project," Evanhoe said. "If we let go of the focus, they will let go of the focus."
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