The first stakeholders meeting for the Freeport Boulevard Bike Lanes Project was held at the Sierra 2 Center on Wednesday evening, October 5. Stakeholders include residents and community association members of Land Park and Curtis Park, McClatchy High School students, Freeport Boulevard business owners, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA), WALKSacramento, and the City of Sacramento Department of Transportation.
Project manager David Edrosolan presented and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the latest preliminary street cross section options. Some of the design challenges include providing continuous bike lanes, transitions where lane configurations change, two-way-left-turn lanes, and on-street parking. Still needing significant thought is creating bike connectivity at the north end of the project between Vallejo and the RT/UPRR crossing at 21st Street.
Because the project will provide bike lanes as part of regular maintenance scheduled for 2013, the cost to the City will be primarily for engineering and environmental planning. Funding will be from the 2012 Overlay and Seal Coat Program and the Bikeway Program. Funding for future changes, such as pedestrian refuge islands, signals, medians, and sidewalks, to make the corridor more of a complete street needs to be identified and secured.
The stakeholders plan to meet once more prior to a community meeting to be held in November. The Department of Transportation expects to begin environmental review with a Notice of Preparation public meeting in January, 2012.
This is an excellent example of what happens when the community takes charge of completing its streets in partnership with advocacy groups and City staff. It has taken a lot of community effort and time, and the involvement of SAFFE (Safety Along Freeport For Everyone, a local community advocacy group) has been especially important. WALKSacramento is committed to helping see the project through to successful conclusion.