Fulton Street in Fresno reconstruction project

Fulton Street was once one of the primary downtown streets in Fresno until it was sectioned off into the pedestrian Fulton Mall in 1964. At the time US 99 would have just moved to a full freeway bypass of downtown Fresno both California State Routes 41 and 180 were realigned on more modernized surface routes. Apparently northward growth through the city of Fresno progressed northward into the 1980s which led to a decline of the Fulton Mall. The city of Fresno through the previous year has been gradually been reconstructing Fulton Street this past year and it is set to open completely on the 21st of October.

With all that said, I found myself with some spare time this afternoon and went to downtown Fresno to see the Fulton Street for myself. Surprisingly much of the former pedestrian mall has already been opened to traffic. I started my walk through the Fulton Street project at Inyo Street and made my way northward.

Fulton Street is lined with new and renovated art structures.

This view down Kern Street towards Chukchanski Park would have previously been US 99 on Broadway over half a century ago.

Personally I think the best view from Fulton Street is looking north from Kern.

More art between Kern Street and Tulare Street.

Fulton Street between Tulare and Fresno Street is still closed but the roadway is essentially close to complete. It seems that signs still need to be hung, the pavement markings need to be placed, and a couple sewage line holes need to be filled.

Fulton north from Fresno Street to Tuolumne has been already opened to traffic.

The Fulton Street project is certainly an interesting one, I guess time will only tell if it helps revitalize downtown Fresno. There were other curious onlookers walking Fulton but there still was a lot of vagrants and closed shops. The Art Deco motif is kind of cool and I'm looking forward to seeing what the opening event is like on the 21st. Below I included some links about the Fulton Street project:

Fulton Street construction time lapse

Fulton Street construction overview

Fulton Street opening timeline

Edit 3/6/19: This past week I was testing out a new camera in my car. That being the case I head north on Fulton Street from Ventura Avenue to Divisadero and took pictures along the way.

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