Pine Grove – Upcountry residents this week could get a Pine Grove Corridor Improvement project report, and the project manager hopes to discuss the first big public “kick-off” meeting, tentatively slated for November. Amador County Transportation Commission’s Neil Peacock, planner and program manager for the project, is scheduled to speak Wednesday at Pine Grove Town Hall. John Carlson, staff member for the Pine Grove Council and Civic Improvement Club, said last week that Peacock “will be discussing the Pine Grove Corridor.” He said: “ACTC has received funding approval for the first phase of the project.” Carlson said Peacock will be placed as the first item of business on the agenda after approval of minutes, and should be giving his update just after 5:30 p.m. Peacock on Friday said “I don't have much more to add at this point, other than that we have our kick-off (staff-level Project Development Team) meeting with Caltrans staff and ACTC consultants on Sept 9th in Stockton.” He said he asked the Caltrans staffer to make sure Carlson was invited. Peacock said “Due to the time-lines involved with their oversight requirements, we likely won't be able to have our kick-off community meeting until the first of November.” He asked to have the kick-off meeting as the only agenda item in the November meeting, since the hall will be pre-booked, and interested council and club members already have that date on their calendars. Peacock said besides the basic update, “the main thing (he would) like to talk about with the group on Wednesday” is “coordinating the first big community meeting.” Peacock has held outreach meetings with 2 Upcountry grassroots quasi-political groups. He told the Upcountry Community Council in February that the project will get $356,000, earmarked for Highway 88 by Congressman Dan Lungren, for planning. And Peacock said any project will take years and years of planning, including many meetings. In March, the ACTC board of directors approved a study on Highway 88 in Pine Grove. Peacock told the ACTC board in March the study process would include stakeholder and public participation; data collection and analysis; problem definition and evaluation; and “opportunities and constraints analysis.” The process would develop and screen Highway 88 improvement recommendations and alternatives; then determine final alternatives and ultimately make an “adoption of the final preferred alternative.” At the time, staff estimated a widening of Highway 88 would cost $2.27 million. Last week, Peacock suggested Wednesday’s agenda list him as giving a project status report, followed by a group discussion on the community kick-off meeting. Carlson said he expects to prepare the meeting’s agenda today. The PGCC meets at 5:30 p.m. today at the Pine Grove Town Hall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.