More than a dozen transportation-related questions ranging from potholes to roundabouts to repaving were asked and answered during a first-ever Facebook Live question-and-answer session with two city staff members on Thursday evening.
The live online session featured answers from the city’s General Services Department Operations Manager, Regina Cave, who answered at least 16 questions submitted by residents. Alison Bermudez, an associate city planner, also participated as a session host.
The focus of the session was to address transportation-related questions. The city plans to host followup sessions each month to address different topics.
Answers provided by the city to various questions are included below, in their entirety.
Are there any plans to improve ‘ugly’ Antelope Road over crossing?
“We actually do have some plans in the near future to do some improvements along the Antelope Road over crossing. The city did conduct a feasibility study a couple of years ago to look at the pedestrian and bicycle accessibility over Antelope Road, and also to see how we can address a lot of those traffic safety concerns. We are expecting to receive some money through what is called the Sacramento Transportation Authority, its Measure A maintenance.
“We are hopeful by January/February of 2020 to know when those funds will come through, and how much will come through. Then we can go ahead and proceed with the reports that are necessary with Caltrans. It is a Caltrans facility, so there is a lot of coordination with Caltrans. And then once we know how much money we’ll have, we can go ahead and start our planning for design, and eventual construction, of Antelope Road.”
Is there any way to improve safety on the Antelope Road exit, with the short merge lane going onto Garden Gate?
“The (Antelope Road) project does include looking at that area, in terms of eliminating what we call a free right, and straightening up, or hardening up, that turn. Again, the problem is, because it is a Caltrans facility, we have to keep in mind how that will affect the freeway, and stacking of traffic. So that will be a lot of coordination with Caltrans, but we will be sure to include that as part of our overall plan.”
What’s with the potholes?
“Potholes are not unique just to Citrus Heights. Unfortunately it is not only a regional issue — a statewide issue — but we’re seeing it nationally. We do have a lot of aging, old infrastructure and unfortunately, just not enough funding that comes down here to the local agencies, to address a lot of potholes.
“Here in Citrus Heights, I can speak that we do our very best to address potholes as soon as we’re notified of them. So, while our staff drive around to inspect the potholes, we also heavily rely on the eyes and ears of our community. Please be sure, if you see a pothole, report the pothole. Please don’t wait.”
Potholes can be reported by calling the city’s General Services Department at (916) 727-4770, or by emailing servicerequestGSD@citrusheights.net.
What about potholes that get fixed and then soon reappear?
“We address potholes differently at different times of the year. During the rainy season, obviously, it’s very difficult to address it with what we call ‘hot mix.’ The plants are not open during the wet season, the rainy season. So what we do is address it with what we call ‘cutback.’ It’s a temporary fix, but it’s an immediate fix to the pothole to eliminate that hole, and that potential damage. Then we typically go back and address all those potholes with a more permanent solution, such as a hot mix asphalt.”
How does the city determine which roads will get resurfaced?
“The plan for the city, is for the next couple years, to allocate [SB 1 gas tax funds] towards our residential streets. While we do recognize that our major corridors — our Sunrise, our Greenback — those roads do need some repair, we look to put the money back into the residential streets because of the limited funding we’re receiving. The money goes a lot farther in addressing our residential streets versus saving up multi-years worth of our funding to do a major corridor.”
For more, see: Q&A: Why isn’t gas tax money going to repave major streets in Citrus Heights?
What is SB 1 all about?
“So the SB 1 is the extension of gas tax. In 2017 the state added on additional gas tax that gets distributed to all of the agencies, the cities, and the counties. So that extra SB 1 money is what we are allotting to our road resurfacing program.”
The City of Citrus Heights gets an annual allocation of around $1.5 million from SB 1 gas tax funds.
Will Kenneth Avenue, which borders Sacramento County, be repaved?
“We currently don’t have any plans and we have not been informed of any plans from the Sacramento County to address that road as well, but it is a gateway into the city on the east side of our jurisdiction. So we will be looking at some opportunities not only to resurface Kenneth and Oak, but also to improve a lot of the pedestrian and bicycle accessibility in that area. That is one of our priorities when we are looking at doing road improvements, is to see how we can improve the accessibility for all users.”
Any plans to fix the ‘bumpy ride’ along Sunrise Boulevard?
“It is a bumpy ride. We have done some improvements on Sunrise, at different areas of the corridor. We’ve done what we call Complete Streets One and Complete Streets Three, which focused on Oak Avenue to the north city limits. We do have funding programs, again, with the Sacramento Transportation Authority, to address the next phase, which would be Greenback to Oak Avenue. We expect, again, sometime in the next year, maybe in March or April, that we should know exactly when those funds will come available.W
How does grant funding work for road funding?
“For our major streets, which are all of your major corridors, and some of what we call collectors, like Twin Oaks and Mariposa, we look to leverage our local funds here in Citrus Heights, to get grant funds. Typically, it’s about a 10% match, so for every $10 of local money, then we get maybe $100 of grant money. It’s very important for us to look to leverage our local money when we can.”
“We’ve actually just recently submitted a grant that we should be hearing about, if we are successful on receiving those funds, by this August. This is for San Juan, this is focusing on the area from just north of the Madison intersection, up to Greenback Lane. We would be looking at not only resurfacing the street — we understand that there’s a lot of sections of San Juan that are in need of major repair — but also improving the pedestrian and bicycle accessibility, primarily along the east side, so we can make sure we can get our students to school, and get our residents to some of those shopping areas.”
What can be done about cut-through traffic speeding through neighborhoods?
“First and foremost, if it’s speeding, please contact the police department. They can look to see what resources they have to put out there for some enforcement, maybe put out some of their speed trailers.
“But in terms of cut through, cut-through traffic is not illegal. People are allowed to use residential streets. However, if you’re interested in some options that we have with our neighborhood traffic control, in terms of different amenities, or improvements, that can be done within your neighborhood to address some of the extra traffic and make sure that your neighborhood is pedestrian friendly, you can contact the General Services Department, and our general services engineering team can help you.”
The city’s General Services Department can be reached at (916) 727-4770, or by emailing servicerequestGSD@citrusheights.net.
What about cut-through traffic on Old Auburn, between Wachtel and Fair Oaks?
“Again, we have to expect that with being kind of the center of this region. We do get a lot of traffic that comes through from Placer County, through Citrus Heights, into other jurisdictions. Unfortunately, that’s just the nature — but we are looking at some long term solutions on how to address some of that down the Old Auburn corridor.”
What can be done about speeding on Tupelo Drive and drivers running stop signs?
“Again, that’s an enforcement issue. We want to make sure that if you see speeding on your street or traffic infractions, which is people running stop signs, please be sure to contact the Citrus Heights Police Department and report those. They can look at deploying some of their resources out to address that.
The Citrus Heights Police Department’s non-emergency line is (916) 727-5500.
Will a sound wall be installed on Sunrise Boulevard?
“We are looking at options on how we can address that. Not only for the aesthetic purposes, but hopefully to relieve some of those residents who live immediately adjacent to Sunrise Boulevard.”
What part of Maidstone Way will be repaved?
“So Maidstone Way is scheduled for a resurfacing project and that is under our 2020 program, utilizing, again, our SB 1 money. So Maidstone will be paved, the frontage road, which is just adjacent to Madison Avenue, and then the curve northbound, and then connect over by Cambridge Elementary School. So that entire stretch will be repaved.”
What will be included with road work planned for Mariposa Avenue?
“We actually do have two different phases coming up on Mariposa. We have our current project, which is our Mariposa (phase 3) and that focuses primarily in the area north of Farmgate. Then we also have our Mariposa (phase 4), which provides connectivity all the way down to Madison Avenue. I believe construction on [phase 4] is scheduled two years out at this point. We are currently under design.”
Is the city planning to add any more roundabouts in Citrus Heights?
“We are always open to looking at any type of improvements we can put here, in the city, to provide for traffic calming, as well as enhance pedestrian safety throughout our corridors. So, go ahead and make that suggestion to our council, or to our city manager.”
The city’s June 20 Q&A session can be viewed in its entirety on the city’s Facebook page. Another Q&A session on a different topic has been tentatively scheduled for July 18.
Want to share your thoughts on roads in Citrus Heights? Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
More than a dozen transportation-related questions ranging from potholes to roundabouts to repaving were asked and answered during a first-ever Facebook Live question-and-answer session with two city staffers on Thursday...
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