By Sara Beth Williams–
The construction and installation of a new gateway arch and stoplight at the border between Citrus Heights and Roseville has been completed with the activation of the signal lights at the newly designed intersection on Tuesday morning.
With the construction of the new gateway arch over Auburn Boulevard, the city also established a new intersection, complete with crosswalks where there were none before, allowing pedestrians to now cross east to west, or west to east.
New signals were also added, including one to the south of the gateway arch, one to the east, and one that has been incorporated into the gateway arch itself.
Drivers can now turn left onto Auburn Boulevard using the new traffic signal. Meanwhile, access to Whyte Avenue will remain open, but with some modifications for safety.
The gateway arch displays “Welcome to Citrus Heights” written across the arched top, with one pillar on each side.
The main entrance on the Citrus Grove shopping center side has also been modified with some changes, including extending curbs and protecting parking spots to improve future traffic flow and safety. New striping has also been installed, and a pedestrian ADA cement ramp is under construction on the Citrus Grove shopping center side.
Planned improvements are almost complete, city spokesperson Marisa Brown said on Monday. The improvements during the second phase of the Auburn Boulevard Complete Street project included undergrounding of overhead utilities, installation of bicycle lanes and wide sidewalks, upgrading traffic signals to meet current standards, the addition of new street lighting, new landscaping and trees, replacing old storm drain infrastructure, and enhancing transit stops for ADA compliance.
Additionally new medians with new turn pockets have been added, and the streets have been restriped and multiple new crosswalks have been added along the corridor.
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