Teamwork-that is what makes things happen and through combined efforts Corcoran has another route to take in and out of Corcoran.
As flooding began to surround Corcoran and inundate many of the roadways to the West, South, and Southeast only a few main routes remained opened, said City Manager Greg Gatzka. Those open roads included State Route 43 toward Hanford, and State Route 137 toward Tulare.
The east Whitley Avenue portion of State Route 137 east of the State Route 43 Round-A-Bout, however, was closed due to High Speed Rail construction. And it was to remain closed for the most of the rest of the year.
That unfortunately forced many of Corcoran’s residents and people who work in Corcoran to use Pickerell Avenue and Waukena Avenue to access State Route 137 which caused a lot of congestion and significantly increased the potential for traffic accidents at Pickerell and State Route 43, Gatzka added.
“The original suggestion to explore the possibility of rebuilding and opening east Whitley Avenue to help alleviate traffic in the City along Pickerell and reduce traffic accidents was suggested by Joe Faulkner our City Public Works Director,” Gatzka noted. “He asked me if there was any way we could get High Speed Rail to reopen that route. I reached out to Supervisor Richard Valle as we had both been recently working with the High Speed Rail Authority on the Veterans Memorial. Their response to our request and need was immediate, and authorized their contractor Dragados Flatiron to prioritize the rebuilding of east Whitley.” The High Speed Rail’s construction project manager contacted Gatzka immediately and informed him that construction had already began and would be worked on 24/7 until completed. They had to regrade the ground, lay gravel, and then apply an asphalt roadway top and by Monday morning the roadway was open for the public to use.
Kings County District 2 Supervisor Richard Valle who resides in Corcoran thanked the High Speed rail Authority for opening the road because they didn’t have to.
“In a time of crisis some people run and some people lead. This is a small win in a very bad time. Teamwork got this done and I wish to express my gratitude to the California High Speed Rail for going above and beyond in their help to open up this road at a time when we need every available route in and out of Corcoran to be open,” Supervisor Valle said.
