The new legislative session has started, and I will again be tracking bills related to transportation and livability, on the Legislation page. AB-1179 and AB-1193 have been amended to cover related but not identical objectives, and are again moving forward.
Author: Dan Allison
Dan Allison is a transportation advocate in Sacramento, CA. Dan dances and backpacks, as much as possible.
News summary 2014-01-05
- Without funding, Sacramento River promenade plans stall (SacBee 2014-01-05)
- See where police made Sacramento New Year DUI arrests (SacBee 2014-01-02)
- Drunk driving crackdown nets 248 in the Sacramento region (SacBee 2014-01-01)
- Redefining Downtown Sacramento (Sacramento Press 2013-12-29)
News summary December 29
Carnage
- Boy struck by vehicles on Bruceville Road dies of injuries (SacBee 2013-12-27); Sacramento police seek driver in hit-and-run that injured 11-year-old pedestrian; (SacBee 2013-12-24); Child struck, seriously hurt by vehicles in south Sacramento (SacBee 2013-12-23)
Other
- New year to bring new laws affecting motorists (SacBee 2013-12-29)
- Ask the County Law Librarian – Basketball hoops in the street (SacBee 2013-12-27)
- Sacramento suburban schools expect growth (SacBee 2013-12-26); since development pays only a fraction of the cost of new schools, the rest of us pay through taxes, and sprawl is subsidized
- Holiday DUI crackdown to continue Friday with sobriety checkpoint in Rocklin (SacBee 2013-12-26)
- Sacramento County prosecutor faces drunk driving charges after Highway 50 collision (SacBee 2013-12-26)
- Year in Review: Lack of redevelopment money stalls projects (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-24)
- Sacramento County officials on Watt Avenue backup: It’ll get better (SacBee 2013-12-24)
News summary December 22
Carnage
- Citrus Heights driver killed, two pedestrians injured in Carmichael crash (SacBee 2013-12-20)
- Sacramento coroner identifies bicyclist killed in hit and run (SacBee 2013-12-16); Cyclist, 27, killed in hit-and-run on Fruitridge Road (SacBee 2013-12-15)
Entertainment & Sports Complex (aka, the arena)
- Midtown DUI checkpoint nets four (Sacramento Press 2013-12-21)
- Back-seat Driver: Why study doesn’t see arena gridlock (SacBee 2013-12-20)
- Study predicts I-5 logjam following arena construction (SacBee 2013-12-19)
- Light-rail officials: Trains could be key route to downtown arena (SacBee 2013-12-19)
- Sacramento officials presenting arena impact study tonight at City Hall (SacBee 2013-12-18)
- Editorial: Traffic study on downtown arena is positive, but no reason for complacency (SacBee 2013-12-18)
- New Sacramento arena would get Kings patrons off the road, report finds (SacBee 2013-12-17)
- Arena draft environmental impact report released (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-16)
- Sacramento officials release environmental study of downtown arena (SacBee 2013-12-16)
Other
- CADA director sees more housing ahead for midtown in ’14 (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-20)
- Siemens Sacramento to build 35 diesel-electric locomotives (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-20)
- County scrambles to unclog major Watt Avenue traffic tie-ups (SacBee 2013-12-19)
- Trolley car question: Who will pay? (SacBee 2013-12-18)
- Sacramento Commons would add new downtown housing (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-18)
- Year in Review: Urban infill continues to pick up steam (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-12-18)
- Bike Sharing Program In The Works (CapRadio 2013-12-13)
- Go Time (Comstock’s Magazine 2013-11)
ESC workshop, and initial reading
The Workshop
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Entertainment and Sports Complex (ESC, or arena) was released a few days ago, and this evening there was a public workshop on the DEIR. About 70 people were in attendance, perhaps 1/4 of them city and consultant staff, and about 1/4 were wearing Kings supporter T-shirts or other Kings clothing. I recognized a few faces from the active transportation world, but many I did not know. A speaker gave a quick run-through of the DEIR, sort of executive summary of the summary section of the DEIR.
Following the introduction, people went to the stations on the topics covered in the DEIR to ask questions (and of course make comments, though that was not the purpose of the workshop). At least half the people gravitated to the transportation section, as it seemed to be their area of most interest. Probably parking is the issue most on the minds of Kings fans, but for many, the issues of pedestrian, bicyclist, and transit access to events, and the potential impact on these, are of great interest.
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trenching and decking Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is a Berlin Wall through the heart of Sacramento, severing the connections between downtown and Old Sacramento. It was a product of a time when cars ruled the world, and no other values were of importance. Those times are over, and now it is time to tear down the wall and re-unify Sacramento. A map showing the general idea follows the break, but here are the highlights:
- the current Interstate 5 elevated freeway would be torn down, and replaced by a trenched and decked section
- I Street, J Street, L Street, and N Street would be reconnected over the freeway as regular streets; K Street would be reconnected over (not under) the freeway as a pedestrian and bicyclist street, the main grand entrance to Old Sacramento for tourists and many locals
- Old Sacramento would not only be easily accessible from downtown, but visible from downtown
- other adjustments would be made to the streets and circulation in this area
This will certainly not be my last post on these ideas, and I will explore the why and how of the pedestrian and bicyclist streets shown.
Note on terms: “cut and cover” is often used for underground transit and rail lines, but the term seems less commonly used for freeways, so I’ve used “trench and deck”; “the big dig” is also often used, after the project in Boston, which went way over budget and took years longer than intended, but apparently has had a very positive affect on the city
Why Not Here?
sactown magazine has an interesting series of articles grouped under Why Not Here? which I like for its thinking outside the box. Though most of these are not directly transportation related, they are about transforming the nature of Sacramento and bringing residents into downtown. Most of the articles were written by sactown co-owner Rob Turner.
I believe that these are important goals because it is only through dream-big projects that the money to fix our transportation woes will become available. If we have to wait until our regular tax base can fix things, we will be waiting a long time, but new developments can fix things as part of their design. Several ideas are about bringing regular and high-end housing to downtown, which encourages walking, biking and transit solutions rather than more driving and more parking.
- Return of the JFDI (sactown 2013-12); this one is about the Community Center Theatre
- A Walk on the Wild Side (sactown 2013-12)
- A River Runs Through It (sactown 2013-10)
- A Sleeping Green Giant (sactown 2013-10)
- Looking for a Square Deal (sactown 2013-08
- #HereWeBuild (sactown 2013-06)
re-gridding Sacramento
Traffic circulation, for everyone, is handicapped or prevented by an incomplete grid system in downtown and midtown Sacramento. Three recent posts have addressed this issue, I’m thinking about several more, and several posts over the last year were also on the same topic. So I created a new category for the Getting Around Sacramento blog, re-gridding Sacramento.
Re-gridding is an awkward phrase, but I haven’t come up with a better one yet, so I’ll use it for now.
I Street into Old Sacramento
The City of Sacramento sponsored Envision Sacramento website seeks input from the public on a number of issues. One of the topics was “What are your ideas on improving the Old Sacramento connection from downtown Sacramento via I Street?” You can view the comments, just below the survey, but to comment yourself you must create an account.
The topic uses the photo at right to illustrate the question. What you can’t see in the photo is that behind the photographer and across 3rd Street (to the left), pedestrian access is on the south side, but to the west, it is on the north side.
Comments include a number about the aesthetics of this entrance to Old Sacramento, including the having a dark freeway under crossing as the main route into the one of the highlights of Sacramento, with poor signing for motor vehicle drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. A surprising (to me) number of comments, though, were about the transportation aspects, that it is really not safe for bicyclists or pedestrians to use this entrance, even if they know it is there, and the paucity of other options. I think it is clear that the commenters agreed that the way in which Interstate 5 severed the connections between downtown and Old Sacramento is a major issue.
A gallery of photos shows some of the specific problems at this location.
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Gallery: I Street into Old Sacramento
These photos are of the I Street entrance to Old Sacramento, showing various problems and hazards that exist for pedestrians and bicyclists at this location. The crosswalks here are not really safe. All sorts of signing has been installed to try to make them safe, but that is a poor substitute for correct design. The […]
Getting Around Sacramento 