SCNA responds to Caltrans DEIRLast November, Caltrans released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the "Sac 50 Bus/Carpool Lanes and Community Enhancements Project." This project would add a lane to Highway 50 between downtown Sacramento and Sunrise Boulevard. The additional lane would function as a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane only during commute hours, and as a regular highway lane during non-commute hours and weekends. Working with Neighbors Advocating for Sustainable Transportation and the Environmental Council of Sacramento, SCNA drafted and submitted comments in response to the DEIR. The SCNA board opposes this project because it represents highway expansion that perpetuates an outdated mode of transportation. It is an expensive project that will not solve the problem of congestion on Highway 50 in the long term. And it will consume resources that could otherwise be spent improving and expanding mass transit. There were many problems with the DEIR document, the most critical of which was its failure to state the increase in vehicle miles traveled that would result from the project. Because this important data element was not even estimated, nearly all the subsequent analysis of environmental impact contained in the document is insufficient. For example, despite the fact that this project would increase the capacity of the freeway, Caltrans claimed that its impact on air quality would be limited to "short term, construction related emissions." This is particularly problematic since the project scope contained in the DEIR is only a small segment of a much larger system of HOV lanes envisioned by Caltrans. The DEIR also failed to consider the impact of the project on transit ridership, particularly the light-rail line between downtown Sacramento and Folsom which parallels the project area. SCNA is in the process of becoming an official member of the Neighbors Advocating for Sustainable Transportation coalition. For more information or if you would like to receive a copy of SCNA's comment letter, please contact Kathleen Ave by Email.
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