Fresno Returns Cars to a Pedestrian Mall in the Name of Downtown Revitalization

While global cities in other parts of the world are taking steps to ban cars from city centers, Fresno, California has taken the opposite approach. Time will tell if the return of vehicle traffic to Fulton Street project pays dividends.

November 2, 2017, 2pm PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

The Fulton Mall in its previous, pedestrian-only state.

David Prasad

Flickr

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado reports from Fresno, California, where the city recently celebrated the grand reopening of downtown Fulton Street.

The project, pitched as a downtown revitalization project, took 19 months to complete and cost $20 million of state and federal grants. The key to this project's approach to downtown revitalization is the return of vehicle traffic to Fulton Street, which had served as a pedestrian mall since 1964.

Marek Warszawski provides commentary on the opening ceremonies in a separate article. Tim Sheehan also reported earlier in the month on some of the project's delays during construction.

Full Story:

It’s a downtown dream as Fresno celebrates Fulton Street’s grand reopening

Published on Saturday, October 21, 2017 in The Fresno Bee