On Friday evening, March 13, residents from the Dos Palos area held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new stop sign in the community of Midway. The stop sign is the result of advocacy by Tres Comunidades Unidas, a community group of local residents, in collaboration with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., and Merced County Supervisor Scott Silveira.
Residents are now advocating for other long-overdue infrastructure projects to improve health and safety in the Dos Palos area.
Three communities, united
Tres Comunidades Unidas formed in 2024 when a group of concerned parents and residents from the Dos Palos area joined together with a shared goal of improving health and safety in their neighborhoods. They decided to call themselves Tres Comunidades Unidas (TCU) because the three unincorporated communities where they reside – South Dos Palos, Midway, and Dos Palos Wye – are unified by an absence of critical neighborhood safety amenities including sidewalks, storm drains, traffic signals, and safe, clean recreational spaces for neighborhood youth. With strength in their unity, TCU hopes to bring resources and infrastructure improvements into their communities.
TCU enlisted the help of California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) to help them identify opportunities and develop strategies to advocate for their communities. CRLA is a statewide, nonprofit legal aid organization that provides free legal services to individuals who have been priced out of private legal services. CRLA works with disadvantaged, unincorporated communities in the Central Valley and the Central Coast to promote community health through access to community infrastructure and municipal services.
Community perspectives paved the way
Working together with CRLA, Tres Comunidades Unidas devised a plan to identify their communities’ infrastructure needs. Through discussions and mapping exercises, the group developed a comprehensive list of the most pressing safety concerns in the three communities. CRLA helped TCU prepare and conduct a survey based on this list to capture community perspectives on these urgent infrastructure issues in each of the three communities.
Across multiple weekends of door-to-door canvassing efforts and numerous conversations with their neighbors in fall of 2025, TCU obtained over 70 responses from local residents. One of the top safety concerns identified in the Midway area was the need for a stop sign at the corner of Eli Avenue and Christian Avenue to make the intersection safer for children walking to school from Midway to Dos Palos.
Successful collaboration
In December 2025, TCU met with Supervisor Silveira to share their stories and survey results showing the urgent need for the stop sign and other infrastructure improvements.
On Feb. 10, 2025, the Merced County Board of Supervisors approved the installation of a stop sign at the intersection of Eli and Christian avenues. In early March, the stop sign was installed.
Celebrating with community
To celebrate this achievement, TCU planned and hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new stop sign. Many community members came out in support. Standing together on the corner on a Friday afternoon, community members savored the moment to honor the time, effort, and collective power that brought this “first stop” toward having a safer neighborhood.
The road to come
Unfortunately, many infrastructure deficits remain in South Dos Palos, Midway, and Dos Palos Wye. Children still walk to school along dangerous roads without sidewalks, street lights, or traffic signals to ensure their safety. But with the installation of the stop sign in Midway, Tres Comunidades Unidas has won their first victory in the fight for a safer, healthier community. Empowered and encouraged by community support, they are determined to make sure it will not be the last.
Nick Jensen is the managing attorney for the Unincorporated Community Justice Program with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.