Amador County – Supervisors attending a Highway 88 bypass workshop last week said they thought some comments could have gone easier on facilitators.

Supervisors Louis Boitano and Ted Novelli attended the meeting, at which some people complained Amador County Transportation Commissioners were not in attendance, except for Jackson Vice Mayor Keith Sweet. Debbie Dunn called it a “disconnect” because ACTC’s board meeting was canceled that night.

Novelli said ACTC Commissioners, Supervisors John Plasse and Richard Forster were attending a conference of the Regional Council of Rural Counties. Novelli said he is the Board of Supervisors’ ACTC alternate, so two commissioners were there.

Novelli said he thought people were overly critical at the meeting. “I felt bad for some of those facilitators,” Novelli said. One man questioned traffic numbers, saying in the past he was told 27,000 vehicles per day travel through Pine Grove on Highway 88. Fehr & Peers representative Dave Robinson last Wednesday said their estimate was 15,000 vehicles a day. Novelli said the reduction could have come from increased gasoline prices and the economy.

One man asked about valuation costs, and how it could cost more to build bypasses on undeveloped land than it would to build on land held by existing businesses. He asked if right-of-ways on undeveloped land were more expensive.

Rebecca Neillon of Dokken Engineering said the bulk of the cost for a $71 million south bypass estimate was for earthwork. She said $26.6 million of that would build the road, and $12.2 million was for right-of-ways. Engineer Matt Griggs said they do about 10 projects a year, which go through the right-of-way process, or to construction, and use that knowledge to make estimates. Neillon said they do factor in possible property value increases.

Jill North asked how repairing the 1-and-a-half mile stretch of road would impact traffic on all of Highway 88. Robinson said it is a very local traffic problem and “use in Pine Grove is creating the need for additional capacity” that needs to be addressed.

Novelli said Thursday that Pine Grove Elementary school is the biggest cause of traffic congestion, and peak flows make turning onto the Highway dangerous.

ACTC at the meeting said a 5-lane expansion through town is preferred by Caltrans, and would cost $52 million, while all bypass alternatives have been abandoned due to excessive cost. Caltrans’ project manager said at the meeting they are willing to work on seeing how a 3-lane, through town project might be made to work, and ACTC expects a hybrid solution between the two.

Novelli said Caltrans is responsible for that highway, now and when it is done. He and Boitano thought it was wrong for some to say Caltrans was somehow “stonewalling” the project. Novelli said they have to balance everything out and make sure it works correctly when it is built.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.