Increasing Traffic Congestion: All day meters planned for April 8
Roseville, CA- In a continued effort to help relieve congestion and allow safe merging on Highway 65, Caltrans will be changing the metering time to existing ramp meters on southbound Highway 65, starting Monday, April 8, 2019.
The new metering time will be Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and as well as on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. To prepare the community for the change, the meters will be set to a green light on Tuesday, April 2 through April 8, 2019.
Ramp meters on southbound Highway 65 that will be affected include: southbound Highway 65: eastbound and westbound on-ramps at Pleasant Grove Boulevard, eastbound and westbound on-ramps at Blue Oaks Boulevard, and eastbound and westbound on-ramps at Sunset Boulevard. The $50 million Interstate 80/Highway 65 Phase 1 interchange improvements is currently under construction and slated to be complete in 2020. This phase, which helps alleviate northbound congestion on Highway 65 from the interchange to Pleasant Grove Boulevard, will be completed using the last remaining funding for regional highway improvements. No additional improvements will be constructed for southbound 65, the remainder of the $400 million interchange project, or widening of Highway 65 to Lincoln without an alternative source of local funding.
A matter of funding?
"We anticipate that these metering times will relieve some of the congestion. However, traffic will continue to be a problem in the area until we make meaningful investment in our transportation infrastructure. Projects like the I-80/SR 65 Interchange project will improve traffic congestion and safety for today's travelers and those in the future. However, to fully fund this project we will need to find a local funding source to compete for state and federal funding," says Roseville Mayor John Allard. "Gas taxes help us repair our roads, but do not provide a means to fund the planned expansion of Highway 65."