Big boost for transportation projects across the Greater Sacramento region
SACOG awards $132 million to 54 projects making transportation safer, greener, and more efficient
December 6, 2018: Transportation projects ranging from converting an abandoned Sacramento rail line into a bike trail to making a dangerous Yuba County road safer are among the 54 projects that have been awarded $132.4 million by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) through its Regional, Community Design, and Green Region programs. “These projects represent some of the best thinking by transportation planners across the entire Greater Sacramento area and I’m especially pleased to see some of the excellent work being done outside of Sacramento’s borders,” said Jay Schenirer, the chair of SACOG.
Pedal power in Sacramento
The City of Sacramento’s Del Rio
Trail project was granted $6 million to help build 4.8 miles of a
multiuse cycle trail, a walking path, and intersection crossings
along the abandoned railway corridor west of Freeport Blvd.
Once completed, the Del Rio Trail will provide a direct
north/south route through the Land Park, South Land Park,
Freeport Manor, Z’Berg, Pocket, and Meadowview neighborhoods
between Interstate 5 and Freeport Blvd. It will connect the
Sacramento River Parkway to Freeport Shores Trail and South
Sacramento Parkway West, making access safer for pedestrians and
cyclists who currently use the busy four-lane, 40mph Freeport
Blvd.
Safety first for Yuba County
Yuba County’s busiest road is also one of California’s most dangerous. North Beale Rd has been cited by Caltrans as one of state’s top five percent of unsafe road, with 69 injury accidents along a three-quarter mile stretch between 2006 and 2017. SACOG’s award of $2.3 million to Yuba County from its Community Design program will help the county rehabilitate this vital corridor, funding sidewalks, bike lanes, crossings, and landscaping to make it safer and more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists. It already gets plenty of use by pedestrians, as it connects the community of Linda to Yuba Community College and Beale Air Force Base, one of the largest employers between Sacramento and Oregon.
Fix-it-First on Sunrise Blvd.
Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians
alike will welcome the improvements coming to Sunrise Blvd around
the Sunrise light rail station as part of a City of Rancho
Cordova project SACOG is supporting with a grant of $2.5 million.
The project embraces California’s “Fix-it-First” approach to
infrastructure by repaving the section of Sunrise Blvd from
Folsom Blvd south to the Folsom Canal with long-life rubberized
asphalt, as well as building a bike path linking the Folsom South
Canal Trail to Sunrise light rail station. This path will close
the gap between the canal path and the Sunrise Bicycle Trail,
which leads to the American River Trail. For pedestrians, the
sidewalk improvements and median strip landscaping will make the
route more appealing and safer, as it will incorporate new ramps,
widen the sidewalk, and add shade trees.
Cyclists and tractors co-existing in Yolo County
In Yolo County, SACOG awarded $4.2 million to help rehabilitate County Road 98, a rural-to-urban corridor between Woodland and Davis that is one of the county’s busiest roads, used by commuters, cyclists, farm equipment and gravel trucks. The project will provide eight-foot shoulders for cyclists and 12-foot shoulders for slow agricultural vehicles to move safely, as well as extending a bike path and intersection improvements.
Charging ahead in Yolo County
SACOG’s Green Region program awarded its first round of funding
totaling $11.7 million to four projects, out of 12 applicants who
together requested $39.2 million. One of the successful projects
was from Valley Clean Energy, who were awarded $2.9 million to
buy and install the county’s first DC fast chargers for electric
vehicles along key Yolo County highways and other strategic
locations, as well as portable solar chargers for remote areas
and community events. The award will also support an electric
microtransit pilot program in Davis. These efforts will promote
the use of more electric vehicles in the county, leading to
cleaner air for all its residents.
Over the last 15 years, SACOG has conducted regional funding
rounds every two or three years. Projects are selected to receive
flexible funds for road, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian
projects within the four-county region (Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo,
and Yuba counties). “SACOG’s December funding round is one of the
most important opportunities we have to help deliver key
transportation projects throughout our region. I’m impressed by
the steps forward for cyclist and pedestrian safety and the road
improvements for all users demonstrated by so many of these
projects,” said James Corless, the executive director of
SACOG.
SACOG received 86 applications from 27 project sponsors
requesting $343.6 million in funding across the Regional,
Community Design, and Green Region programs. Of these, SACOG was
able to fully fund 32 projects and partially fund another 22, for
a total of $132.4 million. The funds came from sources such as
the Regional Surface Transportation Program, Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality Program, State Transportation
Improvement Program, and SACOG Managed Funds.