We are continuing to see the results of many years of
excellent work by Caltrans, ACTC and Community planning meetings dealing with
the Pine Grove Route 88 Improvements Project, at the cost of $1.8 million to
date. The original goal was to address the issue of traffic congestion in Pine
Grove between the intersections of Climax
Road and Mt.
Zion Road.
The close to final plan includes no highway widening, no bypass and no
roundabouts, but does provide stop lights, turning lanes, sidewalks and
driveways with some additional parking throughout Pine Grove. However, these Pine Grove improvements are
now being projected to use up all other County funding for Highway improvement
projects for well over the next ten years.
How can the Board of Supervisors make a decision that will negatively
impact their ability to address safety needs for stoplights and highway
improvements in problem areas elsewhere throughout the County, for that long a
time?
In my opinion as a businessperson and not being an expert in
highway improvements, this project appears to have taken on a life of its
own. If the primary goal in Pine Grove
is to relieve the critical traffic “bottleneck” at peak periods, then a single
stage of this plan that involves Pine
Grove School
should be considered separately.
Specifically the part of the proposed plan that would add a stoplight
and reroute northbound school traffic down Volcano Pine Grove Road into a new
entrance and exit to the back of the school. Working on just the middle section
of this plan might be just as effective to relieve existing traffic problems,
without allocating all future County
Hwy. funds to the other less critical and costly
Pine Grove parking and sidewalk improvements, that would not be even taking
place for many years to come.
Supervisor Novelli is not saying a word, as usual… but
before we get to the next stage that will involve even greater costs for this
over arching project that may never be approved, a more realistic and partial
approach to the most critical area around the school should be pursued.
Photo: Mike & Kevan at the "Going Gatsby" Gala Fundraiser for the Amador Community College Foundation.
Photo: Mike & Kevan at the "Going Gatsby" Gala Fundraiser for the Amador Community College Foundation.
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ReplyDeleteI am a member of the Regional Transportation Improvement Plan update stakeholder committee. There are many options for funding the construction of the Pine Grove project. Many. And it can be done in phases. There is nothing in the currently approved proposal that would prevent that. There are also a number of pots of money available to fund other projects in the county. It is misleading to claim otherwise, and those who are doing so now are simply trying to kill the PG project. Construction has not yet been authorized, only getting the project shovel-ready. When it's shovel-ready, the ACTC can consider a number of diverse funding options. The ACTC decision from October 24 does NOT obligate all of the future county STIP funds to the project. It does move the PG project ahead. The PG project is the top priority project in the adopted 2004 Regional Transportation Plan and the draft 2014 plan update. It is a slap in the face to all the good citizens who spent years developing a PG project that is under budget and ahead of time to allow one supervisor who doesn't like it to kill it now. It also disregards the $1.8 M in public funds spent or obligated for the project to date and 10+ years of good work. The October 24 ACTC vote to request money for the next two pre-construction phases of the PG Project was unanimous. There is no reason -- none -- to reconsider that vote less than a month later.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to a discussion that's been going of for years, with experts from all disciplines and members of the community giving input long before the 2014 primary election. The majority of the community has supported the Pine Grove Project. Less than one month after ACTC voted unanimously to approve the project, one special interest group has decided to oppose it, citing a conspiracy theory with no documentation to support its claim, and no contact information to confirm the legitimacy of the group. Unfortunately, one of the ACTC commissioners wants to overturn the well-founded decision during a meeting held the day before Thanksgiving. Seriously, Mike, do you support this kind of behavior? In the name of that's right with this world, please tell me you don't.
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