Council Hits Brakes on Broadway Bridge

In a testament to the power of neighborhood groups to affect transportation policy, at least at the municipal level, the Bee reports that the Sacramento City Council will consider alternative locations for a new Sacramento River Crossing. And in what appears to be a developing rhetorical theme, at least one council member contends that transit access should be a central consideration in the location of the bridge. The Bee article implies that CalTrans disagrees:

[Council Member Rob Fong's] goal for a river crossing, he said, is to connect commuters quickly to major transit stops, such as light rail, not to put an undue burden on residential neighborhoods.

Caltrans officials contend the Highway 50/Capital City Freeway crossing of the Sacramento River -- also called the Pioneer Bridge -- is becoming crowded with local traffic forced onto the freeway.

I'm not sure there's any real contradiction between the desire to keep local traffic off the freeways and the desires to facilitate transit access and protect neighborhood livability. That is, there's no contradiction unless you assume that automobiles should continue to be the dominant mode of transportation in the region.

A River Runs Through It...

Do new bridges in an urban area give commuters shorter routes and encourage neighborhood residents to walk, bike or use transit more? Will they save gas and ease freeway congestion? Or, will bridges, built mainly for cars, encourage more driving and clog nearby neighborhoods? According to city planners it's the former and environmentalists contend the latter. This is a big question facing the Sacramento Region as it expands and tries to develop waterfront areas.

The first new bridge in decades is currently in the planning stages. It will link Sacramento and West Sacramento from Broadway, just south of downtown, to South River Road. According to a recent Sacramento Bee article, Sacramento has a dearth of bridges compared to similar river cities. There are now six bridges spread over six miles on the Sacramento and American rivers, four of these are elevated freeways. Downtown Portland has eight bridges in just half that distance, while Austin, Texas, has eight bridges in a four-mile stretch.

According to Mayor Heather Fargo, a Broadway Bridge will be a conduit for cultural and economic cross-pollination.

"It'll bring more people to eat at 40-plus restaurants and to the Tower Theatre," she said. But, "it has to be built on the same scale as Tower Bridge, walkable and friendly."

Many of the Region's bridges are concrete eyesores packed with cars, not the least pedestrian or bike friendly. Frank Cirill of the Save the American River Association says their philosophy is, 'Don't build new bridges.' So what will it be? The bridge question is one of the many vital transportation issues facing Sacramento Area Council of Government (SACOG) planners, as they put together the Master Transportation Plan (MTP) for the Region.

The ECOS Air, Transportation and Climate Committee will be providing comments on the MTP to SACOG. If you would like to be involved in this effort, email co-chair Eric Davis.