AmCam balks at Highway 29 widening - City wants projects on Highway 12, other roads
August 13, 2005
AmCam balks at Highway 29 widening
City wants projects on Highway 12, other roads
By DAN JUDGE/Times-Herald staff writer
A dump truck drives past the current end of Newell Road in American Canyon, which is just beyond its intersection with Granite Springs Way. (David Pacheco/Times-Herald)
AMERICAN CANYON - When American Canyon incorporated in 1992, one major concern was finding a way to slow down traffic that freely sailed through the city on Highway 29.
Not so much of a problem anymore. The rapidly increasing number of commuters has cars and trucks moving at an agonizing crawl several times a day.
While Caltrans' long-range plan for alleviating the problem is to widen Highway 29 from four to six lanes through American Canyon, city officials blanch at the suggestion.
The highway already splits the city in two and making it wider would only make matters worse, Mayor Cecil Shaver said Friday.
"I really don't think anyone wants Highway 29 widened," Shaver said. "There is no way it can be our main drag if you can't see to the other side of it like it was the Mississippi River or something."
Instead, the mayor and other city officials are pushing for the extension of Flosden/Newell Road from where it ends in the Vintage Ranch subdivision all the way to South Kelly Road, which connects to Highway 12.
And they would like to see a transit sales tax proposed by the Napa County Transportation Planning Agency pay for a large chunk of that road.
While the key project targeted for that tax revenue is the widening of Highway 12, City Manager Mark Joseph said the Flosden/Newell extension to Green Island Road, and ultimately South Kelly, is the most critical to American Canyon.
Napa County, its five cities and various other jurisdictions are trying to hammer out a consensus for the work plan that a half-cent sales tax would fund. By creating parallel routes to Highway 29 - such as Flosden/Newell to the east and Devlin Road to the west - it would create traffic relief and provide alternate routes, especially when accidents shut down the highway, Joseph said. "I think it gives
commuters more options as they travel through town," he said. "And the more options you give commuters, the less likely you are to have traffic jams."
Devlin Road should eventually take care of itself, he said, because it runs through industrially zoned land and its completion to Wetlands Edge Road will be funded largely by private developers. As they complete their own projects, he said, they will be required to pay for portions of the street construction.
Flosden/Newell presents different problems, however, because the final portion connecting to South Kelly would run through vineyards and agricultural land no wants developed.
"The only way that is going to be built is if government has money to build it, which gets us to the sales tax," Joseph said.
He estimates the project could cost $10 million or more.
John Ponte, Napa County Transportation Planning Agency Deputy Executive Director, believes the price tag could be considerably higher.
Nevertheless, he said the sales tax funding of a Flosden/Newell Road extension is a definite possibility.
The project will be discussed when NCTPA holds a public meeting at 7 p.m.
Aug. 31 at the American Canyon Marriott's Fairfield Inn to present the results of its South County Corridor Study.
At an earlier public meeting, the agency gathered public suggestions for seven potential traffic routes and thoroughly analyzed the variables for each, including cost, land use issues and "context sensitivity," or how the people in the surrounding area feel about it.
"Five of the seven options include the extension of Flosden," Ponte said.
However, some of them are in configurations American Canyon officials may not care for, including a partial extension as well as the extension combined with the widening of Highway 29.
Some of the issues surrounding the extension of Flosden/Newell all the way to South Kelly includes the impact on Napa County agricultural land, crossing railroad tracks and cost. In addition, both the city and county would have to agree on the project.
The agency is still processing the raw numbers for the various options but hopes to present a clearer picture on Aug. 31.
"By the end of the month we should have results we feel comfortable enough to actually put out there and ask what people think about it," Ponte said.
- E-mail Dan Judge at UBDJudge@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
AmCam balks at Highway 29 widening
City wants projects on Highway 12, other roads
By DAN JUDGE/Times-Herald staff writer
A dump truck drives past the current end of Newell Road in American Canyon, which is just beyond its intersection with Granite Springs Way. (David Pacheco/Times-Herald)
AMERICAN CANYON - When American Canyon incorporated in 1992, one major concern was finding a way to slow down traffic that freely sailed through the city on Highway 29.
Not so much of a problem anymore. The rapidly increasing number of commuters has cars and trucks moving at an agonizing crawl several times a day.
While Caltrans' long-range plan for alleviating the problem is to widen Highway 29 from four to six lanes through American Canyon, city officials blanch at the suggestion.
The highway already splits the city in two and making it wider would only make matters worse, Mayor Cecil Shaver said Friday.
"I really don't think anyone wants Highway 29 widened," Shaver said. "There is no way it can be our main drag if you can't see to the other side of it like it was the Mississippi River or something."
Instead, the mayor and other city officials are pushing for the extension of Flosden/Newell Road from where it ends in the Vintage Ranch subdivision all the way to South Kelly Road, which connects to Highway 12.
And they would like to see a transit sales tax proposed by the Napa County Transportation Planning Agency pay for a large chunk of that road.
While the key project targeted for that tax revenue is the widening of Highway 12, City Manager Mark Joseph said the Flosden/Newell extension to Green Island Road, and ultimately South Kelly, is the most critical to American Canyon.
Napa County, its five cities and various other jurisdictions are trying to hammer out a consensus for the work plan that a half-cent sales tax would fund. By creating parallel routes to Highway 29 - such as Flosden/Newell to the east and Devlin Road to the west - it would create traffic relief and provide alternate routes, especially when accidents shut down the highway, Joseph said. "I think it gives
commuters more options as they travel through town," he said. "And the more options you give commuters, the less likely you are to have traffic jams."
Devlin Road should eventually take care of itself, he said, because it runs through industrially zoned land and its completion to Wetlands Edge Road will be funded largely by private developers. As they complete their own projects, he said, they will be required to pay for portions of the street construction.
Flosden/Newell presents different problems, however, because the final portion connecting to South Kelly would run through vineyards and agricultural land no wants developed.
"The only way that is going to be built is if government has money to build it, which gets us to the sales tax," Joseph said.
He estimates the project could cost $10 million or more.
John Ponte, Napa County Transportation Planning Agency Deputy Executive Director, believes the price tag could be considerably higher.
Nevertheless, he said the sales tax funding of a Flosden/Newell Road extension is a definite possibility.
The project will be discussed when NCTPA holds a public meeting at 7 p.m.
Aug. 31 at the American Canyon Marriott's Fairfield Inn to present the results of its South County Corridor Study.
At an earlier public meeting, the agency gathered public suggestions for seven potential traffic routes and thoroughly analyzed the variables for each, including cost, land use issues and "context sensitivity," or how the people in the surrounding area feel about it.
"Five of the seven options include the extension of Flosden," Ponte said.
However, some of them are in configurations American Canyon officials may not care for, including a partial extension as well as the extension combined with the widening of Highway 29.
Some of the issues surrounding the extension of Flosden/Newell all the way to South Kelly includes the impact on Napa County agricultural land, crossing railroad tracks and cost. In addition, both the city and county would have to agree on the project.
The agency is still processing the raw numbers for the various options but hopes to present a clearer picture on Aug. 31.
"By the end of the month we should have results we feel comfortable enough to actually put out there and ask what people think about it," Ponte said.
- E-mail Dan Judge at UBDJudge@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
posted by Solano EDC at 9:35 AM
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