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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

August 15, 2004

A future with less traffic?

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Those big delays on interstates 80 and 680 near Cordelia are gone in this vision. So is slow traffic on I-80 in most of Vallejo. Traffic moves at speeds of between 45 mph and 65 mph throughout the county on most days.

Solano County's freeways of the future could be like that, a new study says. It lists 50 projects for I-80, I-680 and Interstate 780 totaling about $1.6 billion to $2 billion to accomplish that goal, all prioritized.

"This is really our game plan," said Daryl Halls, Solano Transportation Authority executive director.

Some people say the county can't build its way out of congestion. Building more freeway lanes spurs more growth, leading to more congestion. The solution, they say, includes building a convenient, reliable mass transit system and having new growth patterns that create more compact cities.

County Supervisor Barbara Kondylis has made this argument regarding a proposed county transportation sales tax. That tax, along with state and federal funds, could pay for 37 of the proposed freeway projects - enough, according to the study, to end most of the congestion.

"It's a funny thing about roads," Kondylis said. "Once you build them, they have a tendency to fill up in three to five years."

Kondylis supports some freeway improvements and the STA wants to improve mass transit. The debate with the sales tax is over how to strike a balance. The tax will be on the November ballot.

Transportation leaders aren't promising their master plan will create a freeway heaven in 2030. Traffic would still be slow on Friday and Sunday evenings, though transportation leaders say these delays would be less than today. Regional traffic heading to and from the Bay Area on weekends would crowd even a new, improved road system.

But people commuting Monday through Thursday would have a smooth drive through the county, if the study and its computer models are correct. The models depend on cities growing in the ways predicted in their general plans and regional growth estimates being accurate.

Here are some highlights from the master freeway plan by Korve Engineering and the STA:

Davis to Vacaville

Traffic on Interstate 80 between Vacaville and Davis still moves during most commute hours. Between 3,000 and 4,000 autos use this section during peak hours, passing orchards and the distinctive Milk Farm restaurant sign.

Still, Dixon and the region are growing. Twenty-five years from now, freeway traffic here could see some significant slowdowns.

The biggest proposed improvement is widening I-80 from six to eight lanes between Kidwell Road near Davis to north of Vacaville. That's a $60 million undertaking.

Transportation leaders also want to see interchanges renovated along this stretch of freeway, including the I-80 and Highway 113 interchange at a cost of $22.7 million. Two new park-and-ride lots in Dixon could also help get drivers out of their cars.

Renovating the Pitt School Road interchange is also a priority. Otherwise, traffic could someday back onto I-80 and cause delays, the computer models predicted.

Interstate 80 through Vacaville is targeted for $25.9 million in new lanes to carry autos traveling between interchanges. These so-called "auxiliary lanes" wouldn't pass under the interchanges. That would mean rebuilding the interchanges to create extra space, a far more expensive undertaking.

Vacaville to Fairfield

About 4,000 to 6,400 autos travel between Vacaville and Fairfield during peak hours. For the most part, they can still keep moving through semi-rural Lagoon Valley and the stretch of brush-covered hills separating the two cities.

They'll be sitting in gridlock in a couple of decades unless something is done, the Korve study predicted. Add auxiliary lanes for people traveling between interchanges at a cost of $31.9 million, the study recommended.

From there, drivers pass into the Fairfield-Suisun region, with 130,000 residents on the flatlands that taper into Suisun Marsh.

Traffic frequently grinds to a halt as it passes by a series of outdated interchanges. The last is the worst of all: The interstates 80 and 680 interchange designed four decades ago.

Construction crews are already building new lanes on I-80 near the interchange. That will help handle the 7,500 or so westbound autos squeezing through this bottleneck during a peak commute hour - for awhile.

More must be done, the study said. Adding lanes, renovating the truck inspection station and building the North Connector road to carry local traffic are among the proposals. The North Connector will parallel the freeway through Suisun and Green valleys. Total costs could top $800 million.

But getting rid of one bottleneck can create a new bottleneck a few miles away. The master plan also proposes adding lanes on I-80 in central Fairfield at a cost close to $200 million.

"We didn't want to go in and just fix the interchange and then you move all the traffic up to West Texas Street," said Mike Duncan of the STA.

Fairfield through Vallejo

Driving westbound on I-80 between Fairfield and Vallejo is about as good as it gets on local freeways. There are more than enough freeway lanes to handle the peak traffic of about 3,800 autos an hour.

"Until you get to Highway 37, it's nothing," Duncan said. "It's just open hills. It's a beautiful drive."

But the Hiddenbrooke golf course community is nearby and the City of American Canyon is to the west. That will someday create the need for a renovated interchange and park-and-ride lot at American Canyon Road, the study said. Those are the only planned projects through 2030 for this stretch of freeway.

Westbound motorists then plunge down the hills into Vallejo, a city of 120,000 along San Pablo Bay. There are plenty of freeway problems here. Sections of the freeway have only three lanes going in either direction. Onramps from interchanges are short.

The freeway master plan calls for adding auxiliary lanes between interchanges. Virtually all the interchanges could be renovated, though more work must be done on specifics.

The death of new freeways

In addition to all the other new lanes on Solano County freeways, the master plan calls for car pool lanes. A lane would run in each direction on I-80 from the Carquinez Bridge to Interstate 505 in Vacaville. The cost would be more than $291.9 million.

Another car pool lane is targeted for I-680 from the Benicia Bridge to Cordelia at a cost of $160 million.

These lanes do more than serve autos, Duncan said. They allow express buses to reach their destinations quicker, he said.

More than $82 million would be spent on park-and-ride lots and transportation centers, in locations such as Gold Hill Road, North Texas Street and Red Top Road in Fairfield, Bella Vista Road in Vacaville, Walters Road in Suisun City and West A Street in Dixon.

But one traffic snarl would remain once all the work is done, according to computer models. That's a three-minute rush-hour delay on eastbound I-80 in Vallejo near Sonoma Boulevard.

Clearing up this snarl would mean building still another lane on I-80 in Vallejo, Duncan said. That would mean expanding the I-80 right-of way at the expense of buildings near the freeway. Also, the interchanges leave no room for this lane. That means not only renovating, but reconstructing the interchanges.

"The cost-to-benefit ratio was just tremendous." Duncan said, meaning it wouldn't be worth the cost.

Transportation leaders are willing to let this small stretch of congestion remain in their master plan.

What the master plan lacks is any bold, sweeping proposals to build new freeways. Previous ideas such as building an eastern Solano County freeway from Vacaville to Sunol get no mention.

One reason is cost.

Building one lane for a new freeway costs $1 million a mile, Duncan said. That's just for construction. The estimate doesn't count environmental studies and other pre-building expenses.

Plus, that proposed east Solano County freeway in the early 1990s - a toll road to be built by a private company - drew heavy opposition. Opponents said the new road would bring development to the remote farmlands. The Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance and many of the Bay Area's counties and cities opposed the project.

So the STA is concentrating on improving existing freeways. It now has its $2 billion master plan to try to keep drivers moving.

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

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