More Road Construction

Three transportation agencies are circulating the initial (Tier 1) DEIR for a proposal to build a new four- or six lane road connecting State Route 70/99 in Sutter County with State Route 65 in Placer County, near Lincoln. Just for laughs, they've given the project an amusingly pseudo-conservationist monicker: "Placer Parkway Corridor Preservation."

The agencies-- the Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans, and the South Placer Regional Transportation Authority-- estimate that building such a road would involve converting between 676 and 990 acres of farmland, and the agencies dryly report that all the alternatives considered "could present similar potential inconsistencies with General Plan policies involving preservation of agriculturally designated areas."

The Executive Summary to the DEIR also notes that loss of agricultural land, growth inducement from the construction of the new road, and conflicts with Placer County's proposed Natural Communities Conservation Plan are all "areas of controversy."

The DEIR estimates that the construction of the new road could increase total Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT) by anywhere from 441,000 to 505,000 by 2040, when compared to the "no build" scenario in 2040. The Executive Summary also mentions that the new route would produce significant impacts on Reactive Organic Gases (ROG) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx).

Those with long memories may recall that Angelo Tsakopoulos has proposed to build a new Placer County college town along the "parkway."

The deadline for submitting written comments is August 20, 2007.