With a new high school opening in less than a year and more development under way, American Canyon residents and officials are pondering ways to make it more safe to cross busy Highway 29.

The crosswalk at Rio Del Mar to the Napa Junction shopping center, one of four crossings of Highway 29 in American Canyon, has drawn the attention of the city and Caltrans.

The city recently applied for a $228,000 federal grant through Caltrans to improve the crosswalk and build a pedestrian pathway at nearby Napa Junction, home to an apartment complex, a hotel, a Wal-Mart Supercenter and other retail stores.

Caltrans officials recently visited the site after Napa Junction resident Lavern Wilson called the state agency to find out what could be done to improve pedestrian safety along Highway 29, where 47,000 cars travel every day.

“Nobody wants to leave the area because there is no way out,”  Wilson said.

Pedestrians crossing the four-lane highway at Rio Del Mar to reach Napa Junction end up walking alongside northbound cars, buses and trucks, creating safety hazards. The island in the middle of the roadway, where pedestrians can safely wait for the light to turn again, also is not accessible to people with disabilities.

While no pedestrians have been killed at that intersection, “The safety risk cannot be ignored,” the city stated in its grant application. According to the American Canyon Police Department, there were five vehicular crashes at that intersection over the past year.

The city may find out before the end of the year if it will receive the $228,000 federal grant. If approved, the grant will require a $26,000 city match for the project, which has received the support of Lake Street Ventures, the San Mateo-based company that developed Napa Junction.

The city originally planned to block the Rio Del Mar intersection with Highway 29. But those plans were eliminated after a residential development east of Highway 29 was shelved.

 A few years ago, the city considered building a pedestrian bridge at American Canyon Road, but that project was shelved when a countywide transportation tax failed at the polls in 2006. City officials, who have said often that the traffic through American Canyon is a regional issue, are doing a review of its circulation plan to improve traffic flow for its 17,000 residents.

In 2006, Napa Junction’s developers and Wal-Mart agreed to pay $1 million to Caltrans in order to obtain the permits to gain access to Highway 29. The money, for improvements to Highway 29, has not been spent, Caltrans said.

In the meantime, residents walking into the 7-Eleven store at Rio Del Mar agreed on one thing — they will not cross the highway on foot. Parents said they will not let their children cross the highway.

“I think it’s dangerous,” said Jerry Miller, 49, who grew up in American Canyon.

Mike Fredette, a four-year resident, said he sees people trying to cross the highway. “It just doesn’t appear safe because there is no sidewalks on the other side,” said Fredette, 46.