Auburn, Calif.- The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to allow planning to proceed for the first phase of the Placer Parkway road project just outside Rocklin, Roseville and Lincoln.
The board approved an environmental analysis that supports a road alignment within the parkway's designated boundaries, and directed county staff to continue work to secure environmental permits for the project and then finalize its design.
The project's first phase will extend from the Whitney Ranch interchange on State Route 65 at the east end, currently being constructed, to Foothills Boulevard North to the west. When finished, the parkway will connect SR 65 to SR 70/99, decreasing travel time between Rocklin and Sacramento and relieving congestion on Interstate 80, especially at its interchange with SR 65 in Roseville. It's also essential to connecting existing transportation corridors to county land north of Roseville that is envisioned as a future education and technology campus as part of the update to the Sunset Industrial Area Master Plan.
"The Placer Parkway project is critically important to the future of Placer County," said District 2 Supervisor Robert Weygandt. "I'm tremendously pleased to see it moving forward."
Three alignments for the first phase were evaluated under the initial environmental review. The preferred alternative – identified as alternative 3 throughout the public review process – was selected because it is entirely within the parkway corridor already identified in the County General Plan, a long-term planning document to guide overall development within the county.
With the alignment approved, work now shifts to seeking project approval under the National Environmental Preservation Act. Once approved, final design work could begin as early as summer 2016, with construction as early as 2018.
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Placer Parkway: Placer County Board Approves Plans for $106 Million Project