Amador County – Regional transportation representatives gave an up-to-date overview of the Pine Grove State Route 88 Improvement Project before a large crowd of concerned citizens at the Pine Grove Town Hall on Wednesday evening. Neil Peacock, Program Manager for the Amador County Transportation Commission, said the proposal includes 12 different alternatives for route modifications at a price tag “not to exceed $40 million.” He said the “purpose of this project is three-fold: to improve operations, alleviate congestion and enhance safety.” All of the proposed alternatives include extensive road widening or the construction of new roads all together through forested, mountainous areas, which would affect existing structures and land parcels. Caltrans originally determined the need for the project a decade ago based on traffic and safety studies. In subsequent years, Caltrans completed a project study report and acquired federal funding from a variety of sources, including a $356,000 earmark from Congressman Dan Lungren to be used for project planning. In 2008, a cooperative agreement was developed making ACTC the “Implementing Agency” for project management while Caltrans still retains “Lead Agency” status and project oversight. “Big transportation projects take quite some time to come to fruition- that’s just a part of the game,” said Peacock. Peacock said the purpose of the meeting was not only to educate the public on progress thus far, but also to gather input on who should be selected for an advisory committee representing local interests who will “provide feedback to the technical experts in our consultant team.” Leslie Regos (RAY-GOES), ACTC Community Outreach Consultant, asked groups who represent Pine Grove or local interests to nominate one representative to join the Stakeholders Working Group because there are “pretty strict criteria for participation.” She said participants are expected to attend a number of meetings and devote non-paid time. She stressed that the routes discussed are just concepts. “Our job is taking all of those lines and building infrastructure that is reasonable from a community acceptance standpoint,” she said. Considering the length of the project so far, she stressed the importance that funding go into the “implementation of a solution.” She said “as much as we’d like to say cost doesn’t have as much weight in these solutions, it does.” Peacock said the project must abide by the rules and regulations of the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. Project construction is not estimated to take place until 2024. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Friday, 09 April 2010 04:27
Pine Grove Scoping Meeting Outlines Hwy. 88 Improvement Project
Amador County – Regional transportation representatives gave an up-to-date overview of the Pine Grove State Route 88 Improvement Project before a large crowd of concerned citizens at the Pine Grove Town Hall on Wednesday evening. Neil Peacock, Program Manager for the Amador County Transportation Commission, said the proposal includes 12 different alternatives for route modifications at a price tag “not to exceed $40 million.” He said the “purpose of this project is three-fold: to improve operations, alleviate congestion and enhance safety.” All of the proposed alternatives include extensive road widening or the construction of new roads all together through forested, mountainous areas, which would affect existing structures and land parcels. Caltrans originally determined the need for the project a decade ago based on traffic and safety studies. In subsequent years, Caltrans completed a project study report and acquired federal funding from a variety of sources, including a $356,000 earmark from Congressman Dan Lungren to be used for project planning. In 2008, a cooperative agreement was developed making ACTC the “Implementing Agency” for project management while Caltrans still retains “Lead Agency” status and project oversight. “Big transportation projects take quite some time to come to fruition- that’s just a part of the game,” said Peacock. Peacock said the purpose of the meeting was not only to educate the public on progress thus far, but also to gather input on who should be selected for an advisory committee representing local interests who will “provide feedback to the technical experts in our consultant team.” Leslie Regos (RAY-GOES), ACTC Community Outreach Consultant, asked groups who represent Pine Grove or local interests to nominate one representative to join the Stakeholders Working Group because there are “pretty strict criteria for participation.” She said participants are expected to attend a number of meetings and devote non-paid time. She stressed that the routes discussed are just concepts. “Our job is taking all of those lines and building infrastructure that is reasonable from a community acceptance standpoint,” she said. Considering the length of the project so far, she stressed the importance that funding go into the “implementation of a solution.” She said “as much as we’d like to say cost doesn’t have as much weight in these solutions, it does.” Peacock said the project must abide by the rules and regulations of the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. Project construction is not estimated to take place until 2024. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Latest from
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