The six-county regional planning agency has been collecting pats on the back for its Blueprint process for a few years now, but today’s front page treatment in the venerable Wall Street Journal all but smashes all previous accolades.

For those who don’t know what SACOG is, it oversees planning for the Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba, Placer, and El Dorado county region. It’s not a federal, state, county, or city agency — it’s a joint powers authority, comprised of paid staff and a board of directors who are elected officials (city council and county supervisors) from throughout the region, with some jurisdictions having more votes depending on population. Continue reading “SACOG nabs impressive front page ink in WSJ” »

Via David Watts Barton’s awesome Sacto/music blog Blogging the Grid, and as blogged previously by RT Rider, it turns out Sacramento was added to Google Street View last week. Neato Speedo! Check it out here. Or follow the jump to see the most blighted block of the grid…

Continue reading “Sac’s up on Google Street View” »

Unless you’ve been too busy reading old posts on The Sac Rag, you know that northbound I-5 has been closed for the past nine days to repair drainage issues and to repave.

Caltrans, CC Myers, and a host of subcontractors worked around the clock to meet their initial deadline of 5am today.

Not enough credit is given to Caltrans for projects like this. While Myers is the main man, a lot of the brains and guts behind projects like these goes to Caltrans Director Will Kempton — a take-no-prisoners transportation expert who has laid down the law within an organization that has long been the butt of countless jokes. Kempton is more than the figurehead of the agency (as some would argue that previous directors have been), as he has the experience and clout to make things happen.

Credit, surprisingly, should also go to lawmakers who have allowed public-private partnerships to be able to expedite significant projects like this one.

It was downright impressive seeing hundreds of people and pieces of equipment moving all at once, 24 hours a day. Parts of the project were adjacent to regular traffic, so there were plenty of men and women toiling away with just a cone between them and distracted drivers.

Wondering what’s next? Check it out. (Now with the correct link. Thanks, T Mc!)

Long known for its cheap fares and no-frills service, Southwest Airlines was once also known — in the pre-9/11 era — for its cheeky flight attendants.

Hubby and I are each frequent flyers, on Southwest and other carriers alike, and we had both noticed that Southwest’s no-nonsense approach had affected the flight attendants too for the past several years.

This past week, however, marked the return of the snark, puns, and levity. Continue reading “Southwest is fun again” »

A bevy of local organizations is convening a “Sanframento” conference to discuss issues that concern the blurry econotransport* line between our conveniently located and charming town with the bay area.

No joke.

Along with UC Davis, this Thursday’s event will is being spearheaded by regional planning agencies and transportation authorities.

Note to sac-eats: Be sure to clear your schedule so you can weigh in with your SMEP! scheme. (As a former employee of a regional planning agency, I can say with great authority that yours would not be the most out-there idea presented in such a forum.)

*my own hybrid word of “economy” and “transportation”

In today’s Bee, intrepid transportation reporter Tony Bizjak interviews new RT manager Mike Wiley. In the interview, Tony asks Mr. Wiley about his dreams for RT–including the Monorail!

A: My wild thought is I want to make sure transit is a core service that everybody can depend on, whether they choose to or not. I know that’s not sexy, like running a monorail.

Q: What, no monorail?

A: I don’t care about the mode. I just want everybody to be able to use the system. To me, we need a backbone of frequent service within reasonable walking distance.

Now, as a member of the media, Tony can’t come out and say that he’s 100% for the Sacramento Monorail! Expansion Project (SMEP), but I’m sure, as a right-thinking Sacramentan, he’s on board. Now, if we can just get Mike Wiley on the same page, we’d be set. And once that Monorail! is up and running, we can start on our new campaign, Fan Boats! Continue reading “SMEP and Other Transportation News” »

From News10.net:

A Roseville 12-year-old can consider himself lucky — he’ll only face DUI and hit-and-run charges for his alleged drunken driving spree last weekend that had Rocklin Police relieved things didn’t end much worse…The boy allegedly showed signs of being drunk and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, hit and run and driving without a driver’s license.

Two notes of interest, however (well, other than a drunk 12 year old driving a car on public streets of course)…

Continue reading “At least he didn’t drive into a house” »

Beginning in the spring of 2008, motorists using Interstate 5 through downtown Sacramento can expect traffic controls and congestion while the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) replaces pavement, improves drainage and installs new wells to keep the river water out between L & S Streets.

I would say that keeping river water out is a good thing- Continue reading “Prediction for 2008: TRAFFIC” »

In today’s Bee, writer Tony Bizjak reports on a number of traffic concerns from folks in-the-know concerning the new Cal Expo arena plans.  The piece pretty fairly andd succinctly addresses the concerns of a number of agencies, groups, and individuals, as well as putting forth a fledgling solution, even at this early stage:

Bartosik and other area business officials, in fact, already have been studying a potential traffic reducer — a streetcar that would run on tracks on or off the street.  It could bring people into the area from a nearby light-rail station, looping them to the Cal Expo gates and the Arden Fair front entrance.

Amazingly enough, not one of the so-called experts mentioned the futuristically fantastic solution staring them right in the face.  It’s a solution so singular it only needs one track, so simple it’s already been built, so elegant it only takes one word to express it: Monorail!  (From now on, any mention of the Monorail! will use a capitalized “M” and an exclamation point.) Continue reading “New Arena, New Traffic Problems” »

One of my favorite Bee columns, Back-Seat Driver, reports today on CalTrans’ new plan to shut down lanes and onramps on I-5 in downtown.

Beginning in February or March and lasting through October, Caltrans will close one or two freeway lanes in each direction from Richards Boulevard on the north to the I-5 junction with Highway 50 on the south.

That will leave three lanes open in each direction, Dinger said.

Key ramps, such as the commuter-heavy I and A street connections also will be closed at points during the year

Apparently there are drainage problems there and it leaks, and therefore flood danger in the long run. But holy smokes, that does not sound like a fun 2008 for commuters or people flying on airplanes. Bizjak says this is the busiest strectch of I-5 north of Los Angeles. (Yay Sacramento!) I’m sure RT and the city have some ideas to alleviate the problem though… Continue reading “More traffic problems for I-5 corridor in ‘08″ »