Rocklin Road Sierra College Corridor Multimodal Enhancements Virtual Community Meeting
On Thursday, April 28th from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m., the City of Rocklin held its second Virtual Community Meeting for the Rocklin Road Sierra College Corridor Multimodal Enhancements. Below is a list of project team members that were in attendance:
City of Rocklin | Jacobs | AIM Consulting |
Matt McClure | Luke McNeel-Caird | Gladys Cornell |
Justin Nartker | Michael Robinson | Esme Santana |
A total of 34 community members attended the Virtual Open House via Zoom.
The objective of the second virtual Community Meeting was to provide updates on the project, present five pedestrian and bicycle design options, answer any questions, and note any comments by the participants and have the participants rank in order of their preference the five pedestrian and bicycle design options.
About the Project
The City of Rocklin is making long-term operational and circulation improvements within the area of the Rocklin Road/Interstate 80 Interchange. The improvements will address existing traffic congestion and improve walking and biking connections between downtown Rocklin and Sierra College.
Meeting Format, Objectives and Purpose
The meeting was held online through Zoom. In addition to presentations, informational videos and two Question and Answers sessions, the meeting included online polling.
The Community Meeting started with the facilitator Gladys Cornell, AIM Consulting welcoming attendees, providing a brief meeting orientation and introduced the project team and agenda. She then discussed the previous public outreach which included the first Virtual Community Meeting, two Stakeholder Meetings and site visits with four property owners. In addition, the collaborative video, Weekend Get Away in Placer County, that was made by Capitol Corridor Joint Power Authority (CCJPA) in partnership with Placer County Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA), was shown to participants.
Matt McClure, Public Services Manager and Project Manager with the City of Rocklin provided welcoming remarks and a background of the project. He explained the current configuration requires those walking or riding bicycles must ride and walk very closely alongside motorists which is a safety concern for many of the traveling public. The intent of this project is to improve the traveling experience for all pedestrians and cyclists of all ages and abilities.
McClure also cited a 2017 survey conducted by Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, indicated that people wanted better access to Sierra College and downtown Rocklin in addition to overall better alternatives to crossing I-80, safely.
Luke McNeel-Caird, Senior Project Manager with Jacobs, presented an overview of the Rocklin Road traffic circulation. He presented data from 2017 showing that the total number of cars that travel on Rocklin Road are 22,790 and is predicted to grow during the next six years.
McNeel-Caird walked attendees through a real-time traffic modeling video illustrating the data and the current traffic conditions within the area. McNeel-Caird also provided participants with a video illustrating how the proposed Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) works, along with the proposed bicycle and pedestrian improvements. He highlighted that the DDI will remain the same for all the design concepts but that the alternatives have different approaches for improving the bicycle and pedestrian experience.
McNeel-Caird presented five pedestrian and bicycle options at this meeting. Since the last community meeting, the project team narrowed down the design concepts to Alternative 1 and Alternative 2. Alternative 1 offers 3 options and Alternative 2 has two options for pedestrian and bicycle travel along Rocklin Road. The project team then paused to answer any clarifying questions related to the options. Once the questions were answered, the project team reviewed the evaluation criteria for the five options. The criteria included topics such as total cost, construction schedule, project approval and public acceptance.
After the criteria was presented, participants were offered an online poll to rank their preference for each of the design options.
Design Concepts Discussion
The presentation began with an overview of the five different bicycle and pedestrian option proposals.
The five options are displayed below.
Alternative 1: Option A
Alternative 1: Option B
Alternative 1: Option C
Alternative 2: Option A
Alternative 2: Option B
Polling
To get an understanding of the public’s acceptance of these options, a preference poll was conducted during the presentation. Attendees were given instructions on how to access the poll and had the opportunity to rank the options from 1 to 5, with 1 being their preferred option and 5 being their least favorite option.
The survey was taken by 19 people and the results are shown below. The highest rank for Alterative 1 is Option A and the highest rank for Alternative 2 is Option A.
Questions & Answers Sessions
Two Q&A sessions were provided to participants to allow for community members to understand the project need and design options prior to their opportunity to provide their preference. The second Q&A session allowed participants to ask any additional questions about the project and provide any final comments for the project team to consider as they move through the project development process.
Cornell, who was monitoring the chat box, presented community member’s questions. Below are the questions with a general summary.
First Q&A Session
Q: “Are there any negative impacts to the business in the
area? Are any of the businesses going to be
removed?”
A: Right now, there are five businesses that are
potentially impacted by this project. We have met with all
of them to discuss the project. The ARCO and 76 gas stations are
special cases. At the Arco, we met them on-site and we may need
to reconfigure their driveways. At 76 gas station, the gas pumps
are on the side of the Rocklin Road may need to be relocated. We
will continue working with these business owners as we refine the
design. Starbucks, Rocklin Road Dry Cleaners, Stop & Go Liquor,
and KFC are not being impacted. The Arby’s will have a sliver of
right of way but the drive thru will be maintained. The vacant
property in the northeast quadrant of the interchange will also
have a sliver of right of way and existing unpaved driveway will
need to be reconstructed.
Q: “Are staircases in all of the options?”
A: There are stairs only in options A, B, and C
for Alternative 1. Alternative 2 does not need staircases.
Q: “Has a bus lane been considered?”
A: There are two transit stops just East of
Rocklin Road Interchange, near Sierra College, both Eastbound and
Westbound on Rocklin Road. Along Rocklin Road, there is so much
traffic in the morning and evening, and with the DDI, not only
will it improve traffic, but it will also help the several
transit lines that travel through.
Q: “Does the project team have data on
the number of vehicles entering the freeway that yield to
pedestrians? It’s pretty rare to see in my
experience.”
A: We know that motorists do not yield to
pedestrians and right now our goal is to separate the motorists,
the bicyclists, and the pedestrians. Our main concern is with the
Eastbound on-ramp. With the Eastbound on-ramp, it’s an
uncontrolled movement and we are looking into that. We’re looking
into angles to see how drivers coming into that area can look for
pedestrians and bicyclist. The Westbound off ramp will be less of
a concern due to it being signalized.
Q: “So looking at the plans, it looks like 2 open
driveways for us [ARCO Gas Station], correct?”
A: We are still working through the design and
waiting to hear back from the City of Rocklin and Caltrans. Our
goal will be to try to find a way to provide you with 2 access
points.
Q: “Does option 2B have lights and security
cameras?”
A: It will have lights, and we will have to
evaluate the installation of security cameras. If there is
significant community support, then we would have to take that
into consideration.
Q: “Option 2A and 2B sound better for pedestrians and
bicyclists. Option 2B being closed off sounds more dangerous for
children. Can you explain more ‘closed -off’?”
A: Since Option B is offset that means that you
won’t be able to see in the undercrossing, but provisions will be
considered for ventilation and safety.
Q: “Any data on the safety of diverging
diamond interchanges versus more traditional interstate designs
for cyclists that ride in the same lanes as
motorists?”
A: The diverging diamond interchanges are
designed to slow down the general traffic to 15-20 mph.
Bicyclists will use the separate trail that will be design to
allow pedestrians and bicyclists to travel in both directions.
However, since Rocklin Road will be designed for a much slower
speed, cyclists that decide to stay in the lanes instead of going
with the multi-use path, will be dealing with a much slower speed
of traffic.
Second Q&A Session:
Q: “The decision matrix does not seem to account for long
term viability. Car traffic is bound to get worse and making a
bike path that people actually use will be the correct way to
keep the traffic at bay. If you select the more direct bicycle
and pedestrian design, will this really encourage more people to
walk and bike and ultimately, reduce the number of cars long
term?”
A: We understand the more direct path for
bicycles and pedestrians is desired and that some people will not
want to walk up and down the staircases and down the long path to
get to their destinations. It’s not time efficient for
those that are in a rush to get to school, work, or other
places. However, the more direct path has a higher cost and does
not have the opportunity for a City gateway, which should be
taken into consideration. Alternative 1 paths would include trees
for shade for those that are using the travel as recreation.
Q: “Why is undercrossing more expensive than Alternative
1?”
A: That has to do with either extending or
constructing a seperate I-80 bridge structure.
Q: “I know you mentioned that these changes are aiming to
lean towards being more recreational, but I thought that this
project was based on the [Sierra] college and to reduce traffic
during school hours. So, if we’re catering to be more
recreational rather than to the Sierra Community College
students, that’s a concern for me.”
A: I want to clarify the options are for everybody,
Alternative 1 provides for recreational opportunities, but it
does include a staircase for the person that needs to get to
their destinations more quickly.
Draft Comparison Table and Schedule
After the discussion of the options and general comments, the project team presented a table with a comparison of all five options and the projected project schedule.
Next Steps
The meeting came to conclusion with the project team encouraging the public to reach out to them with any questions or concerns, and highlighting the next steps as follows:
- Approval of Engineering and Environmental Technical Studies – In progress
- Public Input Survey – April to May 2022
- Stakeholder Meeting #3 – Summer 2022
- Community Meeting #3 – Fall 2022
- Draft environmental document – Fall 2022
Download the Meeting Summary:
Rocklin Road/Sierra College Corridor Multimodal Enhancements Virtual Community Meeting Summary