Right to the Point
By Geoffrey Sakala

International Drive Bridge Project

Neighbors living in the Stone Creek development South of International Drive and West of Sunrise Blvd. are most concerned about noise. That was the discussion on Wednesday night as the City presented the plans for the bridge project which will connect these two roads. Cyrus Abhar, the Director of Public Works was on hand to explain the project details and to answer questions from residents.

In 2006 the City adopted a General Plan which included specific details for circulation and transportation. One of the key elements was this connector bridge linking Sunrise to International which will ease traffic into and out of the downtown area. Future plans include connecting International Drive to the proposed Rancho Cordova Parkway which will connect Douglas Blvd. to Highway 50 between Sunrise and Hazel. The plans for this are in the conceptual stage and may not materialize for 7-8 years. Other roadway projects include connecting Zinfandel Blvd. to Douglas Blvd. and improving White Rock Rd. from Sunrise Blvd. to Prairie City Rd. as part of the 50 Corridor Partnership.

The primary purpose of the presentation by the City and project Designers, Wood Rogers Engineering, was to solicit input from city residents, especially neighbors living in Stone Creek on the design and landscape architecture of the proposed bridge and six-lane road. The design planning is about 30% complete with an environmental impact report to be made available to the public in January of 2008. The project is expected to take less than 1 year to complete with the bridge building taking about 9 months. There will be two new traffic lights at Kilgore and International and at Sunrise and Monier Circle.

The Design and Engineering project manager Mark Grabeck from Wood Rogers was sure to point out that there will be accommodations for North/South access by bicyclists via a tunnel under the bridge. There will be four new pedestrian cross-walks for navigating Sunrise Blvd. The new road will be built using the latest in quiet pavement technologies which incorporate ground tire treads into the asphalt mixture to deaden noise by passing traffic.

Residents expressed concern about noise levels of an estimated 30,000 or more vehicles per day traveling this road in years ahead. The City has conducted a noise impact study and believes the best way to reduce noise impacts to residents of the immediate neighborhood will be building an 8 to 10 foot cinder block wall. Residents expressed concern about the wall being constructed. Two residents asked if the wall would be completed first, before the bridge or road would be constructed. They also expressed concerns for their privacy, loud construction crews early in the morning, and damage to landscaping in backyards immediately facing the proposed new sound deadening wall. The recently completed sewer project was cited as the type of neighborhood impact to avoid in the future.

The City Council will most likely take up this issue in the Spring. The City along with the design and engineering team would welcome your feedback. For more information residents may contact Kathy Garcia, Project Manager for the City of Rancho Cordova at (916) 851-8712.