Surface streets bear brunt of suburban commuters' daily toil
Planners have given up on creating connector between I-80, Highway 50
By Kelly Dunleavy of The Sacramento Business Journal
Friday, December 7, 2007
Of all the difficult commutes in the Sacramento area, the toughest might be for those who travel between the Folsom-El Dorado Hills area along Highway 50 and the Roseville-Rocklin area along Interstate 80.
Much to the dismay of employers on the eastern edge of the metropolitan area, commuters have few options, and many of these consist of travel on small, two-lane roads. And there's almost no hope of ever getting a highway connector built to lessen the load on the surface streets.
Freight traffic adds to the mix. For example, air freight to and from Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova often tends to cut between the freeways on these same surface streets rather than staying on the freeway and looping through Sacramento.
Regional planners offer varying degrees of hope.
The Placer County Transportation Agency and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments are working to expand and widen the heavily traveled north-south arterial, Folsom-Auburn Road (named Auburn-Folsom Road once it crosses into Placer County), as well as the Hazel Avenue bridge over the American River and to build a new route to replace Folsom Dam Road, closed due to security concerns.
"Other than widening existing roads and beefing them up, there's not really a solution," said Celia McAdam of the Placer County Transportation Agency.
Much of that road widening is happening on Sierra College Boulevard in Placer County and is planned for Hazel Avenue in Sacramento County, where lanes will be expanded from four to six all the way from the American River north to Rocklin.
The primary solutions that SACOG's plan offers to alleviate congestion between I-80 and Highway 50 include widening the key roads and improving the transit options between the areas.
A highway connector between I-80 and 50 might not be an option, but "we're trying to create that functional effect," said
SACOG's executive director, Michael McKeever. SACOG represents six counties and 22 cities, with 31 elected officials sitting on the board. It receives part of its funding from federal and state dollars and part from local city taxes, such as development impact fees, which developers pay to offset transportation costs.
Working within the framework of the existing street system is "a more effective solution," said Matt Carpenter,
SACOG's transportation planning manager, "a way to accommodate growth while accepting financial limitations and community resistance."
Teri Sheets, the alternative transportation analyst for the city of Roseville, is also studying service transportation options between Roseville and the 50 corridor.
A plan is in the works that would run a commuter bus from Roseville to the large Franchise Tax Board headquarters in the Rosemont area of Sacramento County. Not all the details have been worked out, but the city is working closely with businesses to ensure that the bus meets their needs, particularly the different shift schedules.
"But it'll take the better part of a year," Sheets said. More meetings with Sacramento Regional Transit are planned.
Employers demand solutions
Of all the various regional transportation agencies, the 50 Corridor Transportation Management Association has some of the most ambitious and interesting plans.
Although they get complaints about the connection between 50 and I-80 from commuters, more often the complaints are coming from employers, who want to ensure their workers are able to get to the job.
"Our most significant stakeholders are employers and property owners along the corridor," said executive director Rebecca Garrison.
While Garrison recognizes the work being done to improve car commutes, the construction on these roads will only make the commute worse for the next few years. As a result, her agency is looking at other transit options.
Large businesses on the TMA Board, including Intel, HealthNet, Kaiser and the Franchise Tax Board, are pushing for immediate solutions.
"They are used to identifying problems and solving them," Garrison said. And they want to know why their investments so far aren't having large returns for their employees. Many of the employers are frustrated transit isn't really an option.
"As they say, 'Close only counts in horseshoes,' " Garrison said. "Being able to ride the train and get within two miles of your work site is close, but how do you get to the front door?"
What the TMA decided, ultimately, was to focus on an increase in bus and shuttle services connecting to light rail and on exploring creative funding solutions.
"This is so important to our 50 corridor business community that some employers may be willing to be funding partners if they can be convinced that the service will be safe, comfortable, convenient and logical," Garrison said.
"This is so important to our 50 corridor business community that some employers may be willing to be funding partners if they can be convinced that the service will be safe, comfortable, convenient and logical," Garrison said.
"Everyone is eager to work together to find solutions."
Lost connection
For those still hoping for a highway connector, forget about it.
"The lack of a north/south connection between Highway 50 and I-80 is a major issue for commuters," Garrison said. "It's hard to prioritize it, since there's no shortage of 'major commute issues' in this region, but it certainly makes the top 10 list."
The history of this connector is long and complicated, stretching back into the 1980s.
Around 1988, the state Department of Transportation was examining a proposal to put a beltway between 50 and I-80. The beltway would have begun at the Highway 65 and I-80 junction and made its way over to Folsom. But it met with an outpouring of public resistance.
"A lot of metro areas have beltways," said Shelly Chernicki at Caltrans, "but this metro area didn't want one."
"It died a painful death," agreed McAdam of the Placer County Transportation Agency.
Now the extensive development of that area prevents any similar proposal from getting off the ground.
"If that were to be considered again today, it wouldn't be feasible," Chernicki said.
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