THE UNION Articles on
Traffic -- February 2006
Builders, leaders aren't out to ruin our town, Jeff Ackerman, February 28, 2006
Traffic issue touches nerve, Trina Kleist, February 25, 2006
Doolittle to help with Dorsey, Josh Singer, February 23, 2006
Crash leaves one in hospital, Dave Moller, February 22, 2006
Dorsey Drive Interchange a possibility, Edward Sylvester, February 21, 2006
Planners change course on Dorsey Drive, Trina Kleist, February 16, 2006
Traffic stands still when school lets out, Soumitro Sen, February 16, 2006
Hwy. 49 tops priority list, Dave Moller, February 15, 2006
Council delays vote on traffic, growth issues, Trina Kleist, February 15, 2006
Construction update, Brittany Retherford, February 14, 2006
Change in sight for traffic situation?, Trina Kleist, February 13, 2006
Trails, bridges and highways to be improved, Trina Kleist, February 13, 2006
Jeff Ackerman: Builders, leaders aren't out to ruin our town
By Jeff Ackerman
Publisher, jeffa@theunion.com
February 28, 2006Before I get into another traffic jam, it's important to know that some of my best friends are contractors and politicians. That's right. Some of the very ones who are ruining Grass Valley today. At least according to some who want to save the city from the grips of "cronyism and good 'ol boy" politics.
Take Keoni Allen, for example. You may have heard his name before. Keoni is a local contractor who also happens to be president of the Nevada County Contractors Association. He's a friend of mine. In fact, Keoni recently completed a pretty big renovation on The Union building, and we couldn't be happier with the results.
Keoni and his wife, Peg, raised two sons right here in Nevada County. The same Nevada County some accuse Keoni of trying to destroy. They do that by referring to Keoni as a "developer," somehow suggesting that if he has his way, this slice of paradise would be a parking lot. Labels make it easy. Keep things nice and tidy. Much easier to think of Keoni as a "developer" than as a husband, father, longtime resident, good community citizen and ... "contractor." Especially when you're trying to scare folks into believing that Keoni and traffic are killing us.
They're wrong, of course. Unless you think that a 20-mile drive from Penn Valley to Nevada Union High School during "commuter rush hour" ought to take less than the 20 minutes it takes me each morning. That's right. I leave my house at 6:45 a.m. each day and arrive at the high school 20 minutes later, where I deposit my daughter for her daily studies. And I even take the "failed" Idaho-Maryland exit, where I spend a whole 30 seconds waiting to make a left turn. It's absolutely horrid. If it gets any worse, I may need to leave my house at 6:44 a.m.
Then there are my politician friends, the other ones who are working with Keoni to destroy our fair community. People such as Grass Valley Councilwomen Patti Ingram and Lisa Swarthout. I know them, too. They were raised here, which is probably why they are working so hard to ruin the place.
That's right. Patti and Lisa both know Keoni. I've seen them laughing together at community fundraisers. (It's safe there because they know that the guys who are out to get them rarely attend community fundraisers). They were probably plotting to bring more cars to town. Either that or a park, or library, or Little League field. You never know with those three.
I also know Jim Moule and Matt Weaver, two businessmen who are trying to build new stores in town - the kind of stores that generate sales tax revenues so the city can pay for ... you know ... police protection. Jim and his family own Moule Paint and Glass up on East Main Street. They have a parcel across the street they've been trying to get going on but have been slowed by threats that thousands of glass and paint buyers are poised to storm the Idaho-Maryland offramp, causing bumper-to-bumper backups as far as the eye can see. It must be some terrific paint and glass.
Actually, some are concerned that Moule's project might result in my being stopped at Idaho-Maryland for 32 seconds instead of the normal 30. It's something to do with a "Two Second Rule," which lawyers are at this moment trying to interpret.
And Matt, as you know, is building a new auto dealership off of Idaho-Maryland and has already agreed to give the city a traffic signal, his left leg and kidneys as part of a mitigation fee plan. There are some who think he ought to throw in his tonsils and next born, just in case.
Who are these gallant knights who want to rescue Grass Valley from the Princes and Princesses of Darkness (a.k.a., Lisa, Patti, Keoni, Matt, Jim and lots of other longtime community leaders)? Unless you have lots of time to attend government meetings or engage in the electronic missiles they frequently lob on the World Wide Web or e-mail, you don't see much of them. And when you do, it's mostly a rant about all that is wrong with Grass Valley ... "developers, cronies, pay-offs, traffic, blah, blah and more blah." I suppose they finally got tired of telling us how "Bush stole the election!" and need something a little more local.
It is an election year, and there will be two seats on the Grass Valley City Council up for grabs, so perhaps some of them will surface long enough to actually run for office, where they can really be part of the solution. If so, it will be great to get to know them a whole lot better. It's amazing what you learn about a person once you actually take the time.
Besides, you can never have too many friends.
Jeff Ackerman is the publisher of The Union. His column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 477-4299, jeffa@theunion.com, or at 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
Delay of vote allows lawyer to make case
Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
February 25, 2006A City Council vote that could allow more traffic into a sometimes heavy intersection in Grass Valley had been scheduled for Tuesday, but has been delayed until March 14.
The delay will allow the lawyer who is advising the city on the matter, William W. Abbott of Sacramento, to attend the meeting. Abbott will explain to the pubic why he thinks it is legal for the council to relax the policy that currently limits additional traffic.
That policy also is holding up progress on several business projects that could send additional vehicles into the intersection of East Main Street, Idaho-Maryland Road and the Golden Center Freeway.
However, others say the resolution before the council is illegal.
Instead, according to Citizens Concerned About Traffic, those business projects should wait until the city has signed a contract to fix the intersection by building a roundabout there. If all goes well, construction of a roundabout could start within a year, according to city estimates.
The resolution also should have been discussed with the Nevada County Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation, which is required by law, said Steve Enos, a land use planner who formerly served on the City Council.
Mayor Gerard Tassone said the resolution is a temporary measure that would allow those business projects to move forward.
"It's about keeping the balance of our economic viability and keeping the rural quality of life we have here," Tassone said.
The vote would affect only a few developments that are in the works. Those projects could include:
• The moving of Hills Flat Lumber from its location on Idaho-Maryland Road to a larger parcel on nearby Railroad Avenue. If the business were allowed to move soon, the city could more easily acquire enough land to built the roundabout, Tassone said.
• A medical office building proposed for Sierra College Drive, being built by Sierra Foothills Construction.
• The Chapa De health clinic for American Indians, also on Sierra College Drive.
All three projects are over the threshold that the city's General Plan has set for the number of vehicles going into the intersection.
The developers have several options, which include a more detailed study of environmental and traffic impacts, and ways they could reduce the traffic their business generates. That could include reducing business hours or building a smaller project.
More studies can be costly and time-consuming, said Barbara Bashell of the Nevada County Contractors Association. Costs of labor and materials for construction are rising as much as 20 percent yearly, some builders have said.
By the time those studies are complete, new traffic mitigation fees, which are charged to new developments, may be in place, Enos said. Currently, city staff are looking at a draft of new traffic fees that could be much higher than they are now.
In the meantime, the city will continue to work on building a single-lane roundabout at that intersection. The roundabout would have a much higher capacity to absorb traffic from new developments in that area, according to a traffic study by the Nevada County Transportation Commission.
"Why make these businesses spend the money on an environmental impact report or a traffic report when we know what the report's going to say and we know what the fix is?" Tassone said.
Enos said such studies could be used to force developers to pay into the traffic fund "above and beyond what they already pay in the regular traffic mitigation fees."
Such costs, however, could strangle local businesses, Tassone said.
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To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
Congressman says will act as 'catalyst' for interchange
By Josh Singer
Staff writer
February 23, 2006Nearly a dozen local officials met Wednesday with Rep. John Doolittle at Grass Valley's City Hall to discuss the Dorsey Drive overpass and the need for federal funds to build an interchange there to alleviate congestion and create easier and faster access to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital.
Dan Landon, Nevada County's Transportation Commission director, told Doolittle that completing the project would cost an estimated $25 million.
"So, did you bring your checkbook?" Grass Valley Mayor Gerard Tassone asked Doolittle, emphasizing the importance of beginning construction soon.
"I'll do everything I can to help you," Doolittle (R-Roseville) told the crowd. "There's no question about that."
However, Doolittle said that at this point he was "not armed with enough information" regarding the proposed project. He promised to act as the "catalyst" for organizing meetings with state and county officials who could help to make the Dorsey Drive construction plans a reality.
Doolittle also suggested creating a toll road on or near Highway 49 to help pay for construction costs on area roads. However, many government officials at the meeting expressed skepticism of such an idea.
Local issues such as Dorsey Drive were just a few of the topics Doolittle addressed during a stop in western Nevada County Wednesday, one day before the congressman plans to officially announce his re-election campaign in Auburn.Doolittle has served as Nevada County's congressional representative since 1990. During the 10 years prior to that, he served as a California state senator.
In an interview with Wednesday at The Union, Doolittle said he disagrees with President George Bush's position to allow the sale of six major U.S. ports to a company based in the United Arab Emirates.
The London-based company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation recently sold its ports based in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other cities to Dubai Ports World. U.S. lawmakers have scrambled to block the sale, citing potential security risks in having ports owned by a company in the Middle East.
"The sale does concern me," Doolittle said, adding that he wants to pass legislation prohibiting any foreign-based company from owning domestic ports.
"I'm sure he doesn't want to offend them," Rep. Doolittle said about Bush's desire to maintain a positive relationship with the U.A.E. during a period of severely elevated oil and gas prices.
Recently, Doolittle has come under fire for his ties to Jack Abramoff, the high-powered lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges.
"I do support lobbying reform," he said, offering comment on just one of a myriad of national issues discussed Wednesday. Among other topics, Doolittle also spoke about some of his recent work in Washington D.C., which, he says, includes protecting American heritage.
In January, Doolittle co-sponsored a resolution supporting the motto "In God We Trust," which appears on currency and in many public places, such as courtrooms. It's a bill the congressman considers necessary for the good of the nation.
"This resolution is necessary in order to prevent a few anti-God bullies from white-washing our nation's heritage with their so called 'politically-correct' rhetoric," Doolittle says in a statement on his Web site.
Doolittle said Wednesday that his resolution supporting the motto was still pending
To contact staff writer Josh Singer, e-mail joshs@theunion.com or call 477-4234.
Highway 49 site of another serious accident
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
February 22, 2006A late afternoon, three-vehicle accident on Highway 49 about four miles south of Grass Valley caused a man to be flown by air ambulance to Sutter-Roseville Medical Center Tuesday with serious injuries.
"The ambulance crew got the guy out so fast we couldn't get an ID on him," said California Highway Patrol Officer Todd Labadie at the Highway 49 and Kenwood Drive scene.
The man suffered "a head injury, facial lacerations and a serious knee injury," according to Nevada County Consolidated Fire District Chief Tim Fike, who was also working the scene. Fike said the man was driving a blue Toyota pickup truck in the northbound lane, "and didn't see the traffic slowing," which caused his vehicle to rear-end a Gold Toyota SUV at 50 mph.
That vehicle was bring driven by Deborah Beach, 48 of Penn Valley. She and her passenger, Carla Piccolo, 52, also of Penn Valley, complained of pain but refused medical treatment, Labadie said.
Beach's gold Toyota was slammed into a Chevy S-10 pickup that had slowed to turn, Fike said. Driving that vehicle, but uninjured, was George Schroeder, 68, of Grass Valley. Labadie said CHP personnel were following the injured driver to the hospital to identify him.
Highway 49 in Nevada County has seen numerous accidents and 12 fatalities in the last 13 months. Grass-roots efforts are underway to make the heavily-traveled road safer.
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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
Dorsey Drive Interchange a possibility
Edward B. Sylvester
February 21, 2006The opportunity to begin building the Dorsey Drive Interchange on an incremental basis is now a distinct possibility. The challenge is to focus the community on this task. The expansion of the interchange is critically needed for safe and primary access to our expanding hospital, the Nevada County campus of Sierra College and the high school. The interchange will also provide much needed circulation for traffic between Grass Valley's downtown and the Glenbrook areas.
For approximately 15 years, Dorsey Drive has been in some stage of design and development. The development of the entire interchange has become impossible to fund due to the escalation of construction costs and the lack of transportation funding at both the local and state level.
The most feasible option now is to build incrementally, starting with the westbound ramp, followed by the eastbound ramp and so forth until the entire interchange is complete. We have had several opportunities over the years to begin construction, but each time the lack of unanimity in the community has stalled the project. We have to unite the community to this effort.
Completing the design process, developing the funding and proceeding to construction will require a concerted effort on the part of many agencies and individuals. We need to focus on what needs to be done on a step-by-step basis and demand accountability along the way.
The leadership must come from the Nevada County Transportation Commission to have a single responsible agency. We need the commission to move forward with the westbound ramp as the first feasible phase of development. The commission must charge Caltrans to complete ramp design, including the integration of this ramp into the full interchange design.
Caltrans' delivery of the design, ready for bid, is the critical component of delays. They must allocate the resources to complete this process quickly or if they cannot, then alternative design options should be explored.
We now need to develop a cost estimate and determine the amount of money that has been collected through mitigation fees for the interchange and the money currently in NCTC accounts. We need to determine whether the Dorsey Drive Interchange funding mechanism in the State Transportation Improvement Project (STIP) process through the California Transportation Commission (CTC) needs modification to assure a prompt availability of funds. Several programs and opportunities may be available through that process.
The critical element in the success in this process is accountability from all concerned. The real key is total community attention and unity. An excellent example is Truckee's effort in the development of the Highway 267 Bypass. They kept bringing the project to the attention of the NCTC for many years to assure funding. In the course of the design process, the town found that Caltrans proposed to close several access ramps to and from the downtown area, which would have had a detrimental economic effect. Having no success locally, the town council, along with Transportation Commission staff and town officials, went directly to Washington, D.C., lobbied federal agencies and politicians, and were successful in changing the designs so that the ramps continue to access downtown. The town also has twice voted for additional road funding with sales tax. The roadway improvement in Truckee was brought about by the community's effort.
My experience as a member of The California Transportation Commission reinforces my belief that we have to be a self-sufficient community. We have to work in a united effort. We are a small county and we have very little political power compared to the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and the Bay Area. I have also learned that a key to funding is to have projects "shelf ready," that is, the design completed and everything in place and ready to bid. I saw many occasions where money suddenly came available but projects were not ready and the opportunity was lost.
We can do this! Will Kempton, the director of Caltrans, told me shortly after his appointment that his message to his staff was "find a way to say yes." We, as a community, have to encourage everyone who has any jurisdiction or funding responsibility to "find a way to say yes." Let's start by contacting Dan Landon, the executive director of the Nevada County Transportation Commission, to offer support and help.
We have many excellent organizations in this community that can offer their good office and member support for this effort. The Board of Supervisors, the city councils, the planning commissions, the chambers of commerce, the Nevada County Business Association, the Nevada County Contractors Association, the Economic Resource Council and the environmental community must join together to make the Dorsey Drive Interchange a reality.
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Edward B. Sylvester, P. E., is a former chairman of the California Transportation Commission.
Planners change course on Dorsey Drive
Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
February 16, 2006State funding woes have forced local traffic planners to scale back plans for building the Dorsey Drive interchange at the Golden Center Freeway, Nevada County Transportation Commission director Dan Landon said.
Instead of building the entire $26 million project in a single blow, planners are looking at a $12.5 million first phase: building an onramp from Dorsey Drive onto westbound Highway 20/49.
If all were go to as planned, the work could start in 2009 and be completed in 2012. The state could start buying out nearby landowners as early as this July, according to Landon's schedule.
The cost includes construction, buying out nearby landowners and payment for services provided by the California Department of Transportation, Landon said Wednesday.
"By reducing the scope of the project, we can show the state that we have a viable project and viable funding and we can move ahead," Landon told Grass Valley City Council members when he presented the project to them at a public meeting late Tuesday.
Even the first phase of the project would take a load off the intersection at East Main Street, Idaho-Maryland Road and the freeway. It also would reduce traffic at Brunswick Basin by 15 to 25 percent, he said.
However, the first phase would not get ambulances any faster to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, which is a few blocks off Dorsey Drive. CalTrans does not usually permit the construction of a lone offramp but does allow building a single onramp, Landon said.
The eastbound onramp, two offramps and the rerouting of Joerschke Drive to intersect slightly west of its present location would continue in later phases. Those dates are not being predicted.
"We'll never live to see it," quipped Mayor Gerard Tassone.
Planners have been working on the interchange for 15 years.
But California's continuing budget problems and growing demand for freeway improvements has made it harder for Nevada County to get state money to help build the intersection.
The alternative of building in phases would give the county a better chance of keeping $12.6 million in state money already is committed to the project. The county and Grass Valley plan to raise another $1.5 million. The rest would have to be found from other sources, including the federal government, Landon said.
The scaled-back plan was "hard to accept," said Councilwoman Patty Ingram, who is on the committee working with the county Transportation Commission on the project.
"But if we don't have a viable project," Ingram said, "we get thrown out (of the state funding process) and we don't have any option at all."
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To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
Traffic stands still when school lets out
Grass Valley engineer says no solutions right now
By Soumitro Sen
Staff writer, soumitros@theunion.com
February 16, 2006For the majority of the afternoon, the long stretch of tree-lined Ridge Road in front of the Nevada Union High School is peaceful. When the classes are in session, the school parking area is almost silent, with vehicles lined up in neat rows.
But when the school day ends at 2:25 p.m., the whole scene undergoes a sea change.
Within minutes, people and cars are everywhere.
Like ants from a disturbed anthill, people pour out of every nook and cranny - driveways, side streets, parking spaces. Students flit precariously across the streets and in and out of cars, ignoring the impatient looks. Frayed nerves. An occasional honk. And soon the tree-lined road is peaceful no longer.
In recent times, residents of Grass Valley and Nevada City have been plagued with traffic problems before and after school hours in certain areas of the towns. The problems are especially acute in front of Nevada Union High School on Ridge Road, on South Auburn Street near Hennessy School, and on Zion Street at Brock and Doane near the Gold Run, Deer Creek, and Seven Hills schools.
"It's really difficult to get in and out of school," said Warren Ronsiek, a senior at Nevada Union High School. "You have to sit in a traffic (jam). People will often go to the middle lane just to skip the big lines and stuff, and that's really dangerous. It's difficult to pull out when you have got people driving down the center of the road. It's really annoying to sit in traffic every day just to get to school."
Nevada City resident Yvonne Henderson, whose daughter attends Seven Hills School, recalled one particular occasion when she faced the brunt of unusually bad traffic.
"I went to pick up my daughter," she said. "It took me from 2:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. to go through the one mile from Ridge Road at Zion to Hoover at Brock and back. When I turned on to Doane, people were sitting at the stop sign. They just sit there and wait because they want to go to Deer Creek and they have two lanes to load the kids into the cars. So instead of turning right or left or stopping at Zion or walking to get their kids, they block the intersection at Lindley and Doane.
"The parents told me to go around them, which means to cross the double yellow lines. As I was sitting in my own car, two cars did exactly that and they didn't stop at the intersection. It's not their fault. This is the system that's in place for the parents to use to pick up their children."
Principal Margaret Eli of Hennessy School is aware of the problem, too.
"I think it is a potentially big problem. It takes one child to be hit for it to become a crisis," Eli said. "The intersection right past Henley is a very busy intersection. That makes it a complex situation. We have had one traffic guard hurt trying to get (out of) the way of a car earlier this year. Traffic is getting to be more. I think many residents on South Auburn think traffic goes too fast down South Auburn."
"It's a problem we have been aware of a number of years," said Dan Landon, executive director of the Nevada County Transportation Commission. "One of the issues about it is that it occurs around 2:30 or 3 p.m., as contrasted with traffic that lets out of businesses at 4:30 or 5 p.m. We are designed to meet the 4:30 or 5 p.m. time frame. Of course, any improvement that we will do will also benefit people who travel during the school time.
"We have a very large volume of traffic for a very short time, so it is not feasible to design and contrast our improvements to let the traffic flow unrestricted."Tim Kiser, city engineer for Grass Valley, asserted that solving the traffic problem is complicated, although some steps might be taken soon.
"We are trying to make some improvements at Ridge Road by installing a traffic signal there," he said. "We have spoken to the school districts and discussed various options, but at this time we don't have any solutions. They aren't simple issues to solve.
"There's a lot of factors that go into it. The schools have their requirements; the state has its requirements; the city has its requirements; there are funding issues. At Nevada Union, the county line is very close to the school. There are numerous jurisdictions involved in these projects. In the case of Hennessy, you have the freeway next to it, so Caltrans will have to be involved in any solution."
To contact staff writer Soumitro Sen, e-mail soumitros@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
February 15, 2006Widening Highway 49 from Grass Valley to Combie Road in southern Nevada County was listed by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday as its top priority for 2006.
"The best thing for the safety of the road is to widen it," said Supervisor Sue Horne, who travels the highway daily.
Other board members acknowledged that a recent spate of deaths on that stretch of the highway - including 12 people who were killed in 2005 - called for expediting the widening project.
The board voted unanimously to ask Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to include the project in his recently announced strategic growth plan for California infrastructure.
The cost of the project was estimated between $100 million and $200 million by Horne and county transportation commission director Dan Landon.
The board said the county could try to get the money from two bond proposals Schwarzenegger will put before voters in June 2006, and Nov. 2008, to fund his plan. The county could also seek the money from existing state transportation funds.
"We've been working since the late '80s to get 49 widened," Landon said. "This will be an uphill battle."
Landon said the highway was scheduled for widening in 2010, "but that won't happen." The governor's first priority in his plan is to get commerce moving easier from ports, Landon said, which does not appear to be good news for inland counties like Nevada.
But Bruce and Deborah Jones, who were involved in a head-on crash on the road and have formed Citizens for Highway 49 safety, said they recently met with Assemblyman Rick Keene, (R-Chico), who said he understands the problem and will help fight for funding.
Board members John Spencer and Robin Sutherland did not agree with some county residents who said widening the road would induce growth and development.
"This is an ongoing problem that will get worse as growth occurs," Sutherland said. "It's appropriate to have good infrastructure before growth."
"It's a sensitive issue and some see it as a growth-inducing issue," Spencer said. "But I have to say by not making 49 wider there are also impacts and those impacts of late have been deaths."
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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@the union.com or call 477-4237.
Council delays vote on traffic, growth issues
By Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
February 15, 2006Economic growth and the traffic it brings squared off at a public hearing late Tuesday, prompting Grass Valley City Council members to delay voting on whether to allow more congestion at an important intersection.
Council members will take up the issue at their next regular meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 28, after staff has gathered up and summarized the extensive and lively commentary at a hearing that lasted about an hour.
Council members also watched a simulation of a roundabout, which is being explored as the most likely improvement to the intersection at East Main Street, Idaho-Maryland Road and the Golden Center Freeway.
City resident Pat Wynn said in the public hearing that she had driven on many roundabouts during a year she lived in Europe.
"They work well with light traffic. With heavy traffic, they don't work at all," Wynn said. "Europe has very good public transportation. We don't."
The computer model of the roundabout, demonstrated by Prism Engineering, showed the roundabout could theoretically improve the projected flow of traffic heading onto the freeway.
The two issues of the roundabout and allowing congestion at the East Main-Idaho-Maryland intersection are intimately related.
Traffic from several business expansions planned for those roads are expected to cause increased delays at the stop signs at the intersection, which is a key entryway into the city. City traffic policy requires that increased delays of more than 2 seconds trigger some measure, paid for by the business causing the increased delays, that would cushion the impact and restore the level of service.
City staff, working with Mayor Gerard Tassone and Councilwoman Lisa Swarthout, recommended that council members create an amendment to the traffic policy that would allow them to accept a lower level of service for an interim period.
The level of service at that intersection already is considered bad at the peak commute hours of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
The amendment would allow businesses and housing projects to continue, while giving city engineers time to evaluate short-term improvements to the intersection that would ease congestion until larger, regional projects could be built.
But if they don't pass the amendment, those new developments could be required to lower their service to customers as a way of reducing traffic - despite being in a prime retail location, Vice-mayor Mark Johnson said.
Thomas Infusino, a Pine Grove land use lawyer hired by Citizens Concerned About Traffic, warned council members that the amendment was illegal.
While the city's General Plan does allow for flexibility when solutions are not available or in extraordinary circumstances, "there is nothing extraordinary about this intersection," Infusino said. Solutions also are available, other opponents argued.
"Who's going to care about the service levels here if we don't have any business?" countered builder Mike Reed.
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To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
Brittany Retherford
February 14, 2006The now-vacant lot on East Main Street that once was home to a gas station owned by Terrible Herbst Inc. will continue to be barren, although the city of Grass Valley has been considering leasing the property for a parking lot, said City Engineer Tim Kiser.
However, "we have not gone into any details; it is currently being leased by someone else," he said.
The half-acre lot could mean the addition of about 15 to 20 public parking spaces for the downtown area.
The lot was sold by Terrible Herbst Inc. in 1998 to USA Petroleum. In 1999, the company submitted plans for another gas station to be built on the site, but approval plans fell through.Contaminated soil was found at the site in 2003 while the city was doing work on the Richardson Street intersection. An extensive removal project has been underway. In January, one underground storage tank was removed, as well as, the remaining structures, Kiser said.
- Brittany Retherford
Change in sight for traffic situation?
Planners ponder roundabout to relieve 'Weave'
By Trina Kleist
Staff writer, trinak@theunion.com
February 13, 2006Traffic planners are considering whether a roundabout could be a feasible solution for the busy intersection at East Main Street, Idaho-Maryland Road and the Golden Center Freeway.
Grass Valley City Council members will look at a presentation for a roundabout at their meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at 125 East Main St. The presentation, by city staff and the Nevada County Transportation Commission, will include a three-dimensional model of a roundabout with cars running through it.
Large roundabouts are common features in Washington, D.C., and in cities in Europe and Latin America. They are unusual in the United States, but could offer a less-costly option for traffic control in Grass Valley, City Engineer Tim Kiser said.The California Department of Transportation does not want any change to the intersection that would worsen traffic conditions at the area known as "the Weave" - the little section of southbound Highway 49/20 between the East Main Street and Colfax Road exits, where drivers getting off the freeway weave their paths with drivers getting on.
"Either we find a solution that doesn't affect the Weave or we fix the Weave," Kiser said. A roundabout would cost about $1 million to build, while improvements to the Weave could cost the city $10 million to $15 million, he added.
The intersection currently is controlled by stop signs. Drivers come onto the freeway at the beginning of the Weave one at a time.
A traffic signal at the intersection would send vehicles onto the freeway in concentrated spurts, creating a hazard for drivers heading into the Weave.
In addition, afternoon commuters coming off the freeway sometimes get stacked up at the intersection, creating another potential hazard.
Grass Valley already has a small roundabout at the intersection of Sierra College and Litton drives, where the speed limit is 15 mph. A roundabout on East Main-Idaho-Maryland would be "significantly larger," Kiser said.
The roundabout idea is in a very early stage and is being looked at for feasibility, Kiser said. Councilmembers will not vote on the matter on Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, council members will look at plans to create a sidewalk and bicycle path along Idaho-Maryland Road next to Wolf Creek. The proposal requires the council members to change the right-of-way requirements for a roadway for that road.
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.Visit the Nevada County Transportation Commission web site.
Trails, bridges and highways to be improved
- copy of plan includedBy Trina Kleist
Staff writer, trinak@theunion.com
February 13, 2006People interested in building trails, making Highway 49 safer, getting the Dorsey Drive interchange or increasing public bus routes have the chance to help form the county’s plan of action in the coming years.
A public workshop on the mission and goals of the Nevada County Transportation Commission will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Nevada City Council chambers at 317 Broad St. in Nevada City.
“We want to ensure that the mission, as we perceive it, is the same as what the citizens want,” said commission executive director Dan Landon.
The commission serves as a liaison between the state government and local governments to plan transportation projects and get money to pay for them.
“We get control of certain state funds and have some leverage with that to get money to local governments,” Landon said.
In that role, commissioners are gearing up for a cycle of planning for new projects and applying for state money. They want to make sure the public gets a say in the direction those projects are going, Landon said.
In the workshop, participants will look at the commission’s mission statement and current projects, and discuss whether they reflect the community’s priorities.
Some of the current projects being contemplated include:• Dorsey Drive interchange, for better access from Highway 20/49 to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital;
• Improvements to Highway 49;
• A regional transportation mitigation fee;
• Building a roundabout at I-80 and Highway 89; and
• Improving the Highway 89 Mousehole.Projects to protect the rural qualities and historic character of the county include:
• Restoring the Bridgeport covered bridge;
• Money for the Nevada County Historical Society’s Narrow Gauge Railroad and Transportation Museum;
• Money for the Truckee River Legacy Trail; and
• Improvements to the Highway 49 bridge over the Bear River.Other projects also could be brought to the fore, including restoring service of the Gold Country Stage to North San Juan and Colfax, Landon said.
Commissioners also are concerned about planning to better connect the county to regional transit corridors, including:• The Tahoe Gateway Intelligent Transportation Plan;
• The Capitol Corridor Extension; and
• Developing pedestrian and bicycle trails.Traffic planners hope the public workshop will help set priorities for county transportation and stir fresh ideas for funding them, Landon said.
Commissioners also have hired a public opinion company, Fairbank Maslin & Maullin of Oakland, to poll county residents about their transportation concerns.
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.2.3 MB Download: Nevada County Transportation Commission’s public workshop agenda, Feb. 15, 2006