Application of Capital Southeast Connector
goals and objectives to El Dorado Hills:
Failure.
To
date, Connector planning for the El Dorado Hills area has been
negligent, failing to consider alignments other than White Rock Road.
Use of White Rock Road is noncompliant with Connector objectives stated
by both SACOG and the Capital Southeast Connector JPA.
The most significant point of noncompliance with Connector objectives stated by SACOG is:
Goal 3: Relieve traffic from local streets and roads and regional
freeways.
The
Purpose and Need document dated 2/17/2010 according to the JPA web
site, but apparently updated as recently as June 18, 2010 notes in its
description of needs:
- Local streets are increasingly subject to congestion and use by non-local traffic.
The
Connector's White Rock Road alignment would route non-local traffic
through the heart of El Dorado Hills, where White Rock Road is a very
important local street.
The same document cites this planning principle for the Connector:
Relieve demand on (i) local streets and roads, and (ii) regional freeway facilities (US-50, SR-99, and I-5)
The same document also states that the Connector will
Reduce cut-through traffic on local streets
Use
of White Rock Road as the Connector fails to do this, and in fact
achieves the opposite: Increasing cut-through traffic.
The basic problem is that White Rock, the Connector itself, is
a local street in El Dorado Hills. It is planned to route
regional through traffic directly through the Town Center and Business
Park area, and specifically through the most traffic-sensitive
intersection in the city: White Rock Road and Latrobe Road.
If
the existing Connector program plan is used, it follows that the
Connector can only achieve its stated goals and satisfy its stated
needs and objectives if the JPA plans and builds additional
roadways which will reduce traffic on the Connector itself (Whiter Rock
Road) in the El Dorado Hills area.
The remainder
of this text is the best available concise summary of Connector goals
and objectives. With the White Rock Road alignment almost all of these
objectives are either problematic or inapplicable to El Dorado Hills.
Goals and Objectives defined in the 2006 Environmental Phase 1
Studies
- Final Technical Report from SACOG.
Goal 1: Enhance the accessibility to existing and planned
employment areas.
- Objective 1.1: Add streets and roads that provide direct access
to job centers in the Rancho Cordova area.
- Objective 1.2: Increase the percentage of work trips that are
less than 20 minutes in duration during peak periods.
- Objective 1.3: Increase the percentage of households that can
access Rancho Cordova employment centers within 30 minutes during peak
periods.
Goal 2: Provide more options for travelers and the movement of goods
and services to, from and within the corridor.
- Objective 2.1: Include new bus routes and new bikeways along new roadways within the Connector corridor
- Objective 2.2: Increase the transit mode share of trips within the corridor.
- Objective 2.3: Increase the percentage of walk and bike trips within the corridor.
- Objective 2.4: Increase the number of work trips by carpool during peak periods.
- Objective 2.5: Reduce the average travel time per truck trip.
Goal 3: Relieve traffic from local streets and roads and regional
freeways.
[As stated in later documents:
- Objective 3.1: Reduce the share of short trips on regional
freeways and longer trips on local/residential streets within the
corridor.
- Objective 3.2: Construct all funded and programmed roadway improvements within the corridor.
- Objective 3.3: Reduce total vehicle miles traveled during commute periods and improve LOS on corridor roadways.
- Objective 3.4: Reduce travel times between key origins and destinations in the corridor.
Goal 4: Enhance access to recreational open space and preserve
sensitive habitat.
- Objective 4.1: Build non-motorized facilities (bikeways, trails) to access recreational open space.
- Objective 4.2: Secure additional funding for open space preservation within the corridor.
- Objective 4.3: Preserve lands devoted to agricultural uses outside of the Urban Services Boundary.
Detail pages for the Connector JPA discussion are: