GUSTINE – A planning process which could help reshape downtown Gustine and the highways which serve as the “front door” to the city will soon be starting – with plenty of input from the community along the way.

When the planning process is done, City Manager Margaret Silveira said, Gustine will have a blueprint for long-sought projects to promote transportation safety and enhance the look of the community’s primary traffic corridors.

A Caltrans grant of approximately $150,000 will fund the planning project. Consultants selected for the job briefed the City Council and Planning Commission in a workshop last week.

Silveira said the consultant team, lead by RRM Design, will take a comprehensive look at the city’s transportation routes and systems as part of the work. Areas to be studied include the Highway 33/140 corridor, North Avenue, school routes and downtown Gustine.

“They will look at all modes of traffic, including vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian. They will look at traffic safety and flow, and they will also look at some of the aesthetics we can do for the downtown area and the highway.”

Project manager Jason McCoy suggested the consultant team would work to craft plans for a pedestrian -friendly community with a downtown core that reflects the character Gustine envisions for itself.

“I have been told things done in the past don’t ‘feel’ like Gustine. We’ve developed this process to come up with a unique plan for Gustine,” McCoy stated. “We’re not telling you what you need; you’re telling us what you need.”

Silveira also emphasized the importance of community involvement in the process. An advisory committee will help guide the planning process, she said.

Meetings will be held with specific organizations such as schools to gain their input, and the community in general will be brought into the process as well with activities that include walking tours of the study area.

“It is amazing what you see when you are walking as opposed to driving,” she pointed out.

Consultants will also be present at community events such as Fourth of July, the OLM Celebration or a football game to solicit feedback.

“We want this to be a community plan, not a council plan or a staff plan,” Silveira stressed.

Aesthetics will be an important consideration in the planning work.

“For most people who come through town on the highway, that is all they are going to see of Gustine. That creates the impression,” Silveira commented. “It is important to create the image we want for people coming to Gustine. What do we want to see that will invite people to get off the highway and come into Gustine?”

What she doesn’t want to see, Silveira remarked, is a plan that takes months to develop and then goes on a shelf. A downtown plan completed several years ago never came to fruition, she noted, although some of the concepts outlined in that work could serve as a starting point for the new planning effort.

The consultants will be required to identify a funding strategy and phasing strategy to implement the completed plan.

Council member Joe Oliveira cautioned consultants, however, that they will face some unique challenges in Gustine.

“Just remember,” he told them. “Our curbs are too high and water doesn’t drain.”

Oliveira also admonished the team not to do anything that would disrupt the community’s cherished parades.