Lawsuit Settled: Carpool Lanes Will Come to Hwy 50

Judge Timothy Frawley approved the landmark agreement between state officials and environmentalists that will  allow carpool lanes to be created on Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova. The lawsuit settlement, arrived at last week clears a major point in state budget negotiations. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has insisted the Highway 50 project and nine others through out the state be fast-tracked as part of an economic stimulus package attached to a state budget agreement.

The Governor argues the projects will help create jobs and will beef up the local economies by providing more efficient roadways. Legislative Democrats disagreed on the Highway 50 project in particular, saying the state should not pre-empt an ongoing environmental lawsuit.

Transportation Department officials say they plan to start work late this summer on seven miles of carpool lanes between Sunrise Boulevard and Watt Avenue. “The earlier the better,” Caltrans head Will Kempton said. “It’s a shot in the arm to the local economy.” Caltrans planners say the freeway widening will smooth traffic on what has been a frustrating corridor, where congestion occurs in both directions, morning and evening.

In the agreement, Caltrans  will finance $7 million in improvements to the Sacramento Regional Transit light-rail line that parallels the freeway. Caltrans also agreed to make a pedestrian and bike crossing from an old railroad bridge over Highway 50 near Mather Field Road and a light-rail station.

“The agreement provides twice the number of jobs and economic stimulus as the initial highway-only project while also providing enormous environmental and community benefits by creating more transit on the Highway 50 corridor,” Steinberg said.

The original lawsuit that called for more environmental reviews was initiated by the Environmental Council of Sacramento and the Neighbors Advocating Sustainable Transportation community group. “We are happy that improvements for the benefit of vehicle traffic in the Highway 50 corridor are now tied to improvements to transit service in the same area,” ECOS spokesman Eric Davis said.  “We also hope that resolution of our lawsuit will help prevent the undermining of state environmental review law during the difficult budget negotiations that are under way.”

Regional Transit executive Mike Wiley said the funding will allow his agency to introduce a limited-stop express train to and from downtown Sacramento, and to run trains to the Hazel Avenue light-rail station every 15 minutes instead of the current 30-minute arrivals. RT will also eventually receive funds that will make it easier to bring trains into downtown Folsom every 15 minutes instead of the current 30 minute route.

Caltrans Director Kempton said the $165 million Highway 50 project will be funded half by state bonds and half by Sacramento County sales taxes. However, the state does not yet have the bond money and it needs a balanced budget soon before it can go to the financial markets in order to obtain it.

Similar Posts:

• June 14, 2010 – Bus, Light Rail Schedule Changes to Go Into Effect Sunday
• July 21, 2010 – Folsom, El Dorado and Sacramento Historical Railroad Association are Making Dream of Community Railroad a Reality
• June 14, 2010 – Sacramento County Budget Hearings Begin Today
• June 4, 2010 – Sacramento County Board Moves Forward on Layoffs; More Cuts Ahead
• June 10, 2010 – Rancho Cordova’s Team to Participate in All-America City Finals Competition

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Posted by Michelle Ventress on Jan 19 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.