Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
On Wednesday, April 30th, Councilwoman Myrtle Cole, Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Bishop Roy Dixon and Pastor Terrell Fletcher gathered in the 4th District on Holly Drive, to break ground for the new sidewalk implementation scheduled for this Southeastern neighborhood. For years, many of the communities in the Fourth District have gone without improvements that make for safe neighborhoods, but this is all soon to change. In his opening statement, Mayor Faulconer shared “The Holly Drive Street Improvement Project is the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of pushing. Work by our community, by city officials and work by our neighborhood residents who never gave up on making sure that we were transforming this corridor for the future. We’re here today to celebrate the widening of the sidewalks, the resurfacing of the roads, speed bumps to slow traffic and planting trees,” he said. “This is a perfect example of the types of projects we’ll be doing in the coming years.”
Councilmember Myrtle Cole shared many of the Mayor’s sentiments by adding “Today is the day we finally break ground on this important infrastructure project. Revitalizing our neighborhoods and infrastructure improvements are top priorities for me. It is no secret that we need sidewalks in this district,” she said. “We are thrilled to break ground on this project that will install long-awaited sidewalks on Holly Drive.” As one of eighteen communities in her district, Cole said that Lincoln Park represents one of those communities that have been historically been underserved.
Pastor Terrell Fletcher, who serves as the Senior Pastor of City of Hope International on Holly Drive is pleased with what is taking place. “When I became pastor in this neighborhood, a few people that live on the block, church members, and some that live in the neighborhood were concerned that they were being forgotten. They were concerned because for over 10 years they’ve been having a conversation with our city about improving this street.” In a short period of time, he shared that with the help of Councilmember Cole, community organizations, residents and Mayor Faulconer, the community is finally being heard. “We say thank you. Thank you to the collaborative effort of our city, council, board, and our community,” shared Fletcher. “My only hope is that moving forward it doesn’t take the next 14 years to get a project done,” he jested. Faulconer replied with a promise that it wouldn’t take that long.
