City Officials Break Ground on International Drive Extension Project

City leaders held an official ground breaking ceremony today for the planned extension of International Drive to Sunrise Boulevard. The project is expected to be completed in 2011 and will include a bridge over the Folsom South Canal.

Public Works Director Cyrus Abhar said the project has been a decade in the making. The project was put on hold due to lack of funding, Abhar said, but when the city incorporated in 2003, finding funding for the project became a priority. “It’s really a very creative combination of federal and state funds, grants and Measure A funds,” he said. ”We managed to put most of the pieces together.”

Last year, the extension project found new life when federal stimulus money became available. “We had a golden shovel-ready project so it gave us the right qualification for applying for the funds, and we did,” Abhar said. ”The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle came together when we received, about a year ago, over a million dollars from the federal stimulus fund.” Abhar also said the project will cost $13 million, and funding for it came from seven different sources.

City Manager Ted Gaebler said the project should help traffic flow throughout the city. “This is a major piece that is going to help actually change the traffic patterns in Rancho Cordova forever,” he said. ”Many of us think that International is going to be the main east-west street for this city.”

Currently Coloma Road is the main connection from Folsom Boulevard to Sunrise Boulevard, Gaebler said. The International Drive extension will connect Kilgore Road to Sunrise Boulevard, making access to the Boulevard more convenient for residents who don’t live immediately near Coloma.

Mayor Dan Skoglund said the project will further the city’s goal of creating better infrastructure for its residents. “One of the priorities of the city of Rancho Cordova is a safe and welcoming place to live and work in.,” he said. “Providing safe and convenient trafficways is one significant way to achieve this goal.”

Alyson Huber, who is Rancho Cordova’s Assembly Member in state legislature, said the project will be of great benefit to her district. “This is the kind of ray of light that we have been looking for in my district,” she said. ”This is what we need to see in these tough economic times: jobs and continued development of our infrastructure. That is what this project’s going to do for Rancho Cordova.”