PLACER COUNTY — In an effort to relieve congestion and make merging safer for motorists, Caltrans today announced plans for midday and weekend ramp metering on a series of freeway entrances to southbound State Highway 65 in Rocklin and Roseville.

Starting Monday, April 8, the ramp meters will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Currently, the ramp meters operate during the morning commute from 6 to 9 a.m. and the afternoon commute from 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays.

The ramp meters affected are:

• Eastbound and westbound Pleasant Grove Boulevard on-ramps to southbound Highway 65.
• Eastbound and westbound Blue Oaks Boulevard on-ramps to southbound Highway 65.
• Eastbound and westbound Sunset Boulevard on-ramps to southbound Highway 65.

To alert motorists of the upcoming changes, the meters will rest on green during the midday and weekend hours this week. Studies have shown ramp meters are an effective way to reduce freeway congestion and collisions, improve travel time and make merging onto the freeway safer. This is the first time Caltrans has initiated midday and weekend metering for freeway on-ramps in the greater Sacramento Valley region.

Caltrans District 3 is responsible for maintaining and operating 4,385 lane miles in 11 Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra counties. Caltrans issues updates about road conditions on Twitter and on Facebook. For real-time traffic information, go to http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the free Caltrans QuickMap app on iTunes or Google Play.