STAKEHOLDER MEETING ON ROCKLIN ROAD/I-80 INTERCHANGE

ADVISORY MEETING FOR ROCKLIN ROAD / I-80 INTERCHANGE

Tuesday, February 15th, 2022, the City of Rocklin held a second stakeholder meeting on the Rocklin Road / I-80 Interchange Improvement Project from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. The following project team members attended:

 

In addition to these businesses, the meeting was attended by the following:

 

Behind the Arco Gas Station, Rodger McDonald is in possession of Quick Quack Car Wash/Vacant property

A visit to 76 Gas Station by Ranvir Saini

Gurmeet Grewal with Arbys

Johl with AM/PM/Arco Gas Station

During the stakeholder meeting, key stakeholders were provided with updated project information and discussed any possible concerns and opportunities for project improvements.

 

About the Project

Within the Rocklin Road / Interstate-80 interchange, Rocklin is improving long-term operations and circulation. The improvements will address existing traffic congestion and improve walking and biking connections between downtown Rocklin and Sierra Community College.

 

In the following presentation, Luke McNeel-Caird, Senior Project Manager with Jacobs, addressed project goals, refinement options, and schedules. Dave Stanek with Fehr & Peers took over the meeting to go over the Transportation Study Area in addition to presenting a traffic simulation video of Rocklin Road in its current condition. Next, Mike Robinson with Jacobs presented the preliminary roadway design and discussed geometric approval drawings in detail. The project team presented Environmental Technical studies and the Project Schedule to Ashely Kellogg of Jacobs, who reviewed the Environmental Document completed by the team.

 

DDI (Diverging Diamond Interchange) model from a video

 

A DETAILS OF THE EXISTING STREETLIGHTS ON ROCKLIN ROAD AND SIERRA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

According to McNeel-Caird, existing streetlight data were gathered to identify where Rocklin residents were driving. During the study, McNeel-Caird found that more than 5000 trips a day are less than a mile in length. He suggested these people bike or walk instead. Johl asked, Are there any numbers that represent travelers just coming in and out and stopping to get gas or food from the easy access to the freeway?. According to McNeel-Caird, these people are included in the overall data set, but we need to dissect the data better to determine whether they are local residents or people driving more than a mile from their residence. It is important for us to dig deeper into those numbers so that we can have better information about our community meeting in April.

 

A presentation was then made regarding Sierra Community College. Considering Sierra Community College is a commuter school, we should consider that fact. Then McNeel-Caird explained that over 18000 trips are made to campus each year, and more than 500 of those trips originate from less than half a mile away. Therefore, even if there are only 100 or 200 people who walk or bike to campus, they would still benefit from having the option to do so. It was then time to proceed with the presentation without any more questions.

 

 

PED/BIKE OVERCROSSING IN DIVERGENT DIAMOND INTERCHANGE (DDI)

Alternative 1 was presented to the attendees along with a design for the Pedestrian / Bike Overcrossing. According to Johl, Alternative 1 raised questions and concerns, including her concerns over the overcrossing negatively affecting her business. Students from Sierra Community College would benefit from being able to walk to her store, she said. Despite the team's assurances, the sidewalk leading to her store will remain.

 

Diagram showing a Divergent Diamond Interchange (DDI) with an infield pedestrian/bike overcrossing

 

Alternative 2: DDI WITH AN ADJACENT UNDERCROSSING FOR PED AND BIKE

Next, Alternative 2 was presented, which addressed Gurmeet Grewal's concern: can sidewalks be built on both sides of the interchange? It might be possible to move the overcrossing to the other side.

 

In response, McNeel-Caird said there is an increase in traffic going westbound on I-80 to Roseville and Sacramento. The sidewalk was moved to the northside of Rocklin Road in order to reduce traffic and conflicts between bikes and pedestrians. Bicyclists and pedestrians can share the road more easily by using Alternative 2.

 

According to Alternative 2, Johl may still have access to her business via the left turn lane, which the team confirmed.

 

Questions and Answers

An opportunity was provided for any lingering questions following the presentation. During the meeting, Roger McDonald shared that he wanted Sierra College Boulevard's Costco opening to be considered in the traffic study since it is predicted to change traffic coming from the opposite direction. Furthermore, he wanted to point out that the businesses along Sierra College are moving down towards Sierra Community College, as the owners want people to bypass Rocklin Road, travel down Sierra College Boulevard, then loop around and enter that way.

 

The Caltrans Project Manager, Chris Ladeas, talked about his optimism for the project.

 

After asking attendees about their preferred overcrossing design, Mc Neel-Caird took a short break. Upon reviewing the second design, McDonald replied that he liked it, while Saini stated that he needed more time to study them, and Johl did not respond.

 

Next Steps

At the end of the meeting, the project team explained that if there are any questions or concerns, they can contact them. After they discussed the next steps for the project, they closed with the following:

 

Meetings with stakeholders on site in March 2022

Community Meeting #2 April 2022

Public Input Survey May 2022

Stakeholder Meeting #3 Summer 2022

Social Cali Digital Marketing Company
Address: 2237 Apple Grey Ct, Rocklin, CA 95765
Phone: (916) 796-1220
Website: https://www.socialcali.com/rocklin-digital-marketing-agency