LETTER: Here’s 5 ways to actually improve Old Auburn Road

By Michael Price, Citrus Heights—
[RE: City closes one lane of Old Auburn Rd for 9-day experiment; Oct. 17th]  Sacramento County exercised poor planning by letting the area grow without adding lanes to accommodate the increased traffic. Citrus Heights inherited the issue, but hasn’t done a good job of relieving the issue.

My feedback on the 9-day test:

Relieving increased traffic flow is never fixed by removing a lane.

• This change has disrupted the ability of residents to get out of our subdivision at Garry Oak and Old Auburn. Because it is so close to the signal light we are dependent on the kindness of drivers on Old Auburn to let us into traffic. I have waited as long as 20 minutes for such kindness.
• Same goes for Glen Tree and Old Auburn.
• It is causing people to take short cuts through the subdivision instead of using the main roads which is putting our children in more danger.
• Putting bicyclists between traffic and the planter boxes is a very dangerous move given how many times the planter boxes have been hit.

My input for future improvements:

• Fair Oaks should be four lanes of traffic from Greenback Lane to Old Auburn. Suicide lanes should be available where needed.
• Old Auburn should be four lanes of traffic from Sylvan Corners to Hazel/Sierra College. Suicide lanes should be available where needed.
• As Fair Oaks approaches Old Auburn there needs to be an added lane dedicated for Right Turn traffic only.
• Put a flashing yellow light on Old Auburn facing oncoming traffic on Fair Oaks.
• Fix our road surfaces before doing any beautification projects.

MORE LETTERS:

Two lanes is better than one
I cannot understand the thinking behind reducing Old Auburn Road to one lane at Garry Oak Drive. Since the implementation, all we saw was TRAFFIC.

Cars exiting Garry Oak could not turn onto Old Auburn Road because traffic in one lane was backed up, blocking the exit. Also, that pedestrian/bike lane abruptly ended in a quarter mile, not allowing cars to merge over in enough time to make a right turn either onto the street next to Grace Bible Church or even onto Antelope Road.

When traveling on Old Auburn Road, eastbound, once a car passed through the intersection, it could not turn left onto Garry Oak because, again, traffic was backed up on Old Auburn waiting for the signal.

Those crashes into the planter boxes mostly happen at night. I know, get rid of the planter boxes!

Also, I have lived in the neighborhood since 1992, and the amount of pedestrian and bicycle traffic is minimal. I definitely prefer two lanes on Old Auburn as well as two left turn lanes on Fair Oaks.
-Molly Matchell, Citrus Heights

‘Road Diet’ is a great idea
I live just south of the intersection of Fair Oaks and Old Auburn, and I applaud the idea of this road diet! I hope city planners bring back the protected bike lane.

I’ve often thought that putting Fair Oaks Blvd on road diet at least as far south as Greenback would be a great idea, to give cyclists and pedestrians more space to breathe on what can be an incredibly aggressive stretch of road for motorists.

Protected bike lanes are good, but only if you can actually get from point A to point B on them. An isolated stretch of protected bike lane like in this test is just not sufficient; to get the full effect of a road diet, you have to make it easier for alternate modes of transportation like biking. Over time, you’ll see thru traffic pushed to major thoroughfares like Sunrise and Hazel, and out of our neighborhoods. I urge planners to go further!
–Joshua Beigel, Orangevale

Additional letters on this topic from Oct. 27th can be read here: LETTER: City’s traffic experiment on Old Auburn Road is insane

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