A New Day and a New Way for Main Street-Parade Marks the End of Long Realignment Project
City Council Member Darin Dupont rides on top of the City Fire Department’s ladder truck at the Main Street Reopening Cruise. Photo: Steve Newvine
California practically evented the classic car cruise: the running of cars through a city’s Main Street popularized in the movie American Graffiti.
Merced has had its share of cruises from back in the day, but the one held July fourteenth might have been the shortest cruise in the history of Merced. It ran just under ten minutes.
It may also be the strangest starting time for a cruise: seven o’clock in the morning.
Steve and Patsy Chastain’s 1970 Dodge Dart was among the two-dozen classic vehicles that took part in the Main Street Reopening Cruise in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine
The cruise was staged by the City of Merced to celebrate the official reopening of Main Street. The reopening includes a switch in direction for the one-way portion of the street.
It was deliberately set for seven in the morning so that the project could be celebrated early and the street could get down to the business of serving drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians making their way into and out of downtown.
The display of classic cars and some City police and fire department vehicles was staged to welcome the repaving of the section of Main from Martin Luther King westward. Included in the work was the move to angle parking on one side, a clearly marked bicycling lane, and a new direction.
Part of the revitalization project on Main Street includes angle parking on the south side of the street as seen here in the section near N Street. Photo: Steve Newvine
That new direction finds traffic down the one-way portion of the street heading west. That represents a change that at least one downtown worker thinks will be for the best.
“I think it will help, definitely,” the worker said.
Some social media comments may disagree. Some on Facebook have labeled the effort one of “big city ideas” that “destroyed the small town.” Some have called it a waste of tax money.
The city says the effort represents the next chapter in the revitalization of downtown Merced.
“I really like it,” said Mayor Matthew Serrato. “It provides a great foundation to build upon.”
This classic convertible leads a city Police Department array of vehicles that were part of the cruise down Main Street. Photo: Steve Newvine
That foundation the Mayor refers to is downtown. With the infusion of investment over the past decade and now with some improvements in the infrastructure, the Mayor and others it all holds the promise of more retail and dining options.
Downtown areas can be a challenge for many cities as retailing moves to bigger buildings usually on property that is miles away from the city core. Many restaurants tend to gravitate to the highway exits.
Adding to all of this is the fear of crime as well as the potential nuisance of homeless and others choosing to panhandle. Managing citizen concerns about downtown has been a source of worry for Merced.
But there was a lot of hope cruising down Main Street on that early Monday morning. And the promise of a revitalized Main Street leads many to believe that downtown Merced is moving in a new way along a better path with lots of promise.
Steve Newvine lives in Merced. He thanks Brad Haven for operating this website for the past fourteen years.
His latest book Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, and all his releases are available locally at the Merced Courthouse Museum gift shop or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)
His California books are also available for purchase at Bookish Modesto in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center, 811 W Roseburg Avenue in Modesto.