It pains me to oppose a grant application that the city is making for transportation improvements, in this case, an application to Active Transportation Program Cycle 7 (ATP7), for Freeport Blvd, to implement the Freeport Blvd Transportation Plan.

When the plan came out, many, many people pointed out the flaws in the plan. To simplify:

• the plan did not reflect the desires of the community, both the adjacent community and the larger Sacramento community, for safety and trees
• the plan neglected to include space for and planting of trees, a top priority of the community
• the plan maintained a roadway of four lanes, two each way, throughout the project, even though only a short stretch, from Sutterville Road to the east to Sutterville Road to the west, has enough traffic to even come close to justifying four lanes

If Freeport were a major bus route, it might make sense to reserve a lane for buses, but it is not a major route and is not a roadway being studied for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

The plan was recommended by SacATC to the council, which was a mistake, and then approved by the council. I wasn’t too worried, because I figured the city would take the criticism by myself and many, many others to heart and improve the plan before seeking grant funding for it. I was wrong. There was almost no one outside the city staff who supported the plan. The city now wants to submit a grant application for engineering design and environmental clearance, based on the flawed transportation plan.

The city’s priorities for transportation modes, under the new General Plan 2040, are below. The plan does not meet that criteria.

I have written many times about the plan:

• Freeport Blvd to council today
• Freeport ideas from Kevin
• Freeport Blvd as a failure of vision and possibility
• Freeport roundabout(s)
• Freeport trees and sidewalk buffers
• Where are the trees on Freeport?
• Freeport Blvd photo essay
• Freeport & Fruitridge intersection
• make Freeport 3 segments
• wide lanes on Freeport
• City of Sac blind adherence to ADT
• SacATC meeting Jan 19 with report, Northgate, Freeport
• Freeport Blvd Transportation Plan
• Freeport Boulevard Transportation Plan Emerging Design Concepts

These posts are included under the category Freeport Blvd. If you have time on your hands, you can read one or more of the posts, but what they do is build a case, and I feel clear about the case. No grant applications until the plan itself is significantly improved.

I hope that you will attend the SacATC meeting this Thursday, March 21, starting at 5:00 PM, in city council chambers, and will speak in opposition to the inclusion of Freeport Blvd in agenda item 6, part (b), for the Freeport Blvd grant application.