Amador County – About 60 people attended a workshop and open house Wednesday at Pine Grove Elementary School and heard that the California Department of Transportation is willing to work on a hybrid, three-lane, through-town project as a possible solution to easing traffic problems on Highway 88 through Pine Grove.
Caltrans project manager Grace Magsayo said Caltrans is ready to work with the Amador County Transportation Commission on three-lane alternatives through town, to see if there are any ways to have that be the final solution. She said for Caltrans, the “overriding concern is that the project meets our purposes and needs.” Those concerns are that it needs to meet expectations and certain criteria for operations, for safety and for easing congestion on Highway 88 in Pine Grove.
Neil Peacock, program manager for ACTC, said the two final projects that were presented by the ACTC “Stakeholders Work Group” were a southern bypass, at an estimated cost of $71 million, or a through-town, improvement of what is there, improving a three-lane system through town, costing about $27 million. The long-term money for the project was expected to be about $40 million. He said the southern bypass was too costly, but Caltrans is willing to work with ACTC on a hybrid solution, between the two options.
Peacock said it was made clear in the study over a dozen-plus of meetings, that nobody supported a five-lane road through town, which Caltrans saw as a long-term solution. Peacock stressed the “partnership” needed in the project, and said all of the “bypasses” have been dismissed as too expensive, including the 2-lane southern bypass, costing $73 million.
He said Caltrans prefers a five-lane improvement through town, which would cost an estimated $54 million, while the Stakeholders Work Group supported the 3-lane through town approach of “fixing what we’ve got,” for an estimated $27.5 million.
Peacock said this is a good example of the challenges we are facing because “we must find a balance or a hybrid solution” to eliminate congestion and also to answer community concerns: “We do not know what it will look like, but we have winnowed it down to that delicate balance.”
Consultant Leslie Bono of CH2M Hill said the California Transportation Commission Board of Directors understands “it is not an easy, obvious answer right now.” She said CTC board members live in small towns and understand, and are genuinely interested in coming to some sort of compromise in Pine Grove.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
