Active Transportation Commission

SacATC March 21 notes

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

These are not intended to be, and are not, comprehensive, but rather, things that grabbed my attention.

Announcements

  • The city received a Reconnecting Old North Sacramento (Del Paso) grant through SACOG Green Means Go program. (https://www.sacog.org/Home/Components/News/News/117/)
  • At the city council meeting in which the SacATC Annual Report was discussed, Councilmember Venezuela directed staff to come back with a plan for a quick-build program, which will be developed over time
  • Ali Doeer-Westbrook relayed that Councilmember Vang requested that if the city is not going to act on a recommendation, they respond with reasons why; it is not clear how this will play out

Agenda 3 Streetcar (SacRT Anthony Adams presentation): went over the new proposal and alignment, and said this is phase 1, West Sac plans to extend way south; $160M project, with $130 secured so far, includes federal SmallStarts, construction 2027 if remainder of funding obtained; just submitted RAISE grant application and will submit state TIRCP grant; short segment on N will be shared sidewalk with bicycles, otherwise not, MAC asked for physical barrier on shared section, N Street will remain one way (per city direction, not converted to two-way), several of the slides presented were not in the agenda document but had additional detail

I commented on the 3rd St bike lane, it has only a narrow buffer, which is unacceptable adjacent to three high-speed traffic lanes, shared should be removed from 11-foot lanes and given to bike facilities; Matt Anderson talked about Class 2 bike lanes on the bridge (may be too narrow as well), which would be unsafe, and alternate routes; Deb Banks said the bike lanes could be raised to provide protection from motor vehicles

Agenda 4 Parks Plan: no public comment, David asked about parks designated as high need, which was not available tonight

Agenda 5 T-Street gap closure: this is a preliminary plan, but intended to fix issues with T Street rather than waiting for the Stockton Blvd reconstruction which is a ways off; presentation followed the agenda item document

My comments: good project, reduction 4 to 2 lanes under freeway is great, parking shown on 34th Street to 35th Street not needed; and removing it on the north side would allow a completely separated and protected bikeway for that block; most traffic turns right on Stockton, so right lane could be right turn only rather than pushing the merge onto T Street east of Stockton Blvd

Several people spoke in favor of a bike box for T Street at Stockton Blvd, but I’m not sure what exactly that means.

Agenda 6 ATP7, Jennifer Donlon Wyant presenting: She presented briefly on each of the projects; she said if the Freeport grant was approved, it would come back to the commission for design comment, which was a surprise as the agenda item did not indicate that; this guarantee seemed to make the commision comfortable enough that Freeport was included in the unanimous motion to recommend to council; when asked about priority of the three projects, Jennifer said they were not prioritized, but Northgate Blvd was highest on the Transportation Priorities Plan list

For items not on the agenda, I mentioned several items:

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