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By the end of the year, Camino Tassajara, one of the longest major thoroughfares in the area, will be less bumpy, safer for pedestrians and it'll be more high-tech.

Camino Tassajara, Danville's heavily-used east-west artery that connects the newer neighborhoods in the eastern portion of town with Interstate 680 and the historic downtown area to the west, is currently undergoing a facelift that will be implemented in three stages.

Earlier this month, the first sign of road and sidewalk work began along Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Tassajara. Michael Stella, the Town's senior civil engineer overseeing this project, said contractors are rebuilding portions of the Camino Tassajara median. In some areas, the old median is being replaced by a higher median strip that will prevent heavy runoff and debris from spilling into traffic lanes from the landscaping in the center divider.

Most of that work is taking place right now along the eastbound lanes of Camino Tassajara between Wood Ranch Road and the intersection with Old Blackhawk Road and Liverpool Street.

Construction has also begun on upgrading pedestrian curb ramps along Camino Tassajara at 10 intersections: Old Blackhawk Road/Liverpool Street, Wood Ranch Road, Alta Vista Way/Woodside Drive, Holbrook Drive, Fairwood Court, Sherburne Hills Road, Tassajara Lane, Cross Bridge Place, Shady Creek Drive/Hill Meadow Drive and Messian Place/Glasgow Drive.

Outdated curb ramps were torn out for upgraded, less steep versions that will meet current wheelchair-accessibility requirements. Each of the new ramps will also have a bright-yellow traction pad, featuring raised bumps on its surface which will indicate to sight-impaired pedestrians that they have fully crossed the street to reach the sidewalk. For pedestrians who have partial use of their eyesight, the bright yellow pads will make the curb ramps easier to see.

"Disabled advocate groups called for a change in the way curb ramps are made," Stella said. "Our ramps had been there for a long time, so it was time for an upgrade."

After the concrete work is complete, work crews will begin preparing Camino Tassajara for resurfacing. Sycamore Valley Road, from the intersection of Camino Tassajara to I-680, will also be repaved, as will the Danville portion of Crow Canyon Road between Camino Tassajara and the San Ramon city limits.

Stella explained that crews will first take care of serious cracks and potholes on the streets. That will consist of grinding away the old pavement and repatching it with new asphalt. Once completed, the streets will be resurfaced with a new overlay.

Work on the resurfacing should be completed by the end of the year.

Stella funding for the curb ramp and repaving work is coming from $4.16 million in grants from the federal Highway Trust Fund. Danville is contributing $701,349 to the project.

"It's a win-win situation," Stella said.

The third portion of the project will involve upgrading and modernizing 20 traffic signals along Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Tassajara.

The Town is spending $168,400 to implement and install a modern, high-tech wireless transmitter system which will detect when vehicles are waiting at a traffic signal. The wireless system, Stella explained, will be more responsive to vehicles than the system it is replacing. Metal sensors embedded into the asphalt would communicate with the traffic signal system when a vehicle is waiting for a red light to turn green.

"It's a very sophisticated system," Stella added. "They aren't expensive to install, and, in the long run, the modern technology will be less expensive to maintain in the future."

Work crews will also install new electronic pedestrian indicators which will countdown the number of seconds necessary for the pedestrian to cross a street safely. The new system also comes with an audible device which will "speak" instructions in English. The new audible system will replace the familiar bird chirp sound that is characteristic at most traffic signals in Danville.

Stella said the push-button mechanism on the signal poles will also be adjusted to accommodate pedestrians confined to wheelchairs.

"It will now be easier for them to reach the button when they want to cross the street," he said. "With all of the upgrades, it'll be safer for everyone."

The current work on Camino Tassajara and Sycamore Valley Road arrives on the heels of installing new LED street lighting, between Camino Ramon near I-680 and the Danville town limits. The new lighting was also installed along the Danville portion of Crow Canyon Road.

"It was the right thing to do," Stella explained. "The new lights allow for better illumination, and ultimately, they will save Danville about 30 percent in energy costs."

The LED lighting replaces the amber-colored, high-pressure sodium light panels, which were originally installed when Camino Tassajara was widened to a four-lane thoroughfare in the 1980s.

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