East 13th Street Streetlights
Currently, the neighborhood has an overabundance of overhead utilities, which hamper the area’s scenic look. In addition, at nightfall it becomes a very dark street, as there is an inadequate number of streetlights. The Redevelopment Agency is coordinating with PG&E to correct these issues. The project will include the removal of all the overhead utility lines and the installation of new streetlights. The improvements are currently being designed.

Example of the overhead utility lines that will be removed.
Parsons Avenue Shopping Center and Street Improvements
One of the primary goals of the Redevelopment Agency is to attract new shopping opportunities to South Merced. The Agency has been working with Rancho San Miguel for several years on the development of a regional shopping center on the corner of Yosemite Parkway and Parsons Avenue. The new center boasts approximately 90,000 square feet of retail including a grocery store, a pharmacy, specialty foods restaurant and other personal services. In addition to the development, the Agency is working to improve the adjacent section of Parson’s Avenue. These improvements will include road widening, overhead utility removal and new sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Construction for the minor infrastructure improvements are preliminarily planned to begin within a year.

The New Rancho San Miguel Shopping Center in South Merced
Highway 59 and Cooper Avenue Intersection
The Redevelopment Agency of the City of Merced is scheduled to undergo an infrastructure development project at the corner of CA Highway 59 and Cooper Ave. Pedestrians and bicyclists alike are combating high volumes of traffic to reach commercial destinations along the Southern Highway 59 corridor. In an effort to alleviate dangerous conditions for the residents of the surrounding areas and aide in the effort to ease traffic congestion along CA Highway 59, the Redevelopment Agency will be administering the widening of streets, sidewalks, landscape buffers and traffic signals. To the added benefit of the project will be the ease of large freight vehicles accessing the Western Industrial Park which currently create safety hazards for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians traversing the Highway 59 corridor.