“What we need to be doing is
anticipating … growth and build to that.”
This is the point that Calaveras Council of Governments (COG) Executive Director
Timothy McSorley tried to push across at a community
meeting last Thursday.
“
“We’re the dreamers,” county
Transportation Planner Tyler Summersett said.
McSorley began the evening by describing what the COG
does, calling it primarily a “funding conduit.” He went over some of the more
notable state and federal transportation funding programs, most notably the
State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
STIP funding is only available if a Regional Transportation Planning (RTP)
document is in the process of being developed. “This is like our general plan,”
McSorley said.
COG has just received an
administrative draft of the RTP and a copy should be released for public review
in about two weeks.
McSorley introduced attendees to a new piece of
software in the county, UPLAN. UPLAN was developed through UC Davis as a way
for county planning agencies to map growth in an area to see the effects. The
program analyzes impacts to resources by running scenarios after mapping three
different layers: attractions, discouragements, and masks.
When an area is masked it is essentially barred from development in the
program; for example, a lake would be given a mask.
“We could think of a lot of
things that this community would like to have as a mask,” Mary Boblet of Hathaway Pines said. “Who designated them as
masks … (this) can go out to the community to define masks.”
Boblet’s comments were the few that focused on county
transportation planning as a whole. Most community members focused on local and
personal issues.
The biggest concern of the night was the Highway 12 and 26 intersection
in Valley Springs. McSorley said that there were
plans to alleviate some of the congestion caused by the intersection. He said
that the
A couple of questions were
brought up as to the safety of Highway 12 and other busy roads that have no
sidewalks or bicycle lanes. McSorley said that the
COG is engaged in updating the bicycle and pedestrian plan, and that the first
public draft should be available in the beginning of May.
Other attendees also spoke.
“I think we really have to start thinking regionally,” Supervisor Russ Thomas
said.
McSorley also brought everyone up-to-date on the status of a
few key projects. Aside from the RTP development process and bicycle and
pedestrian plan, he said that the COG is also engaged in developing a
“ride-share program.”
One of the largest projects the COG is active in is the Angels Camp Bypass, something McSorley said
has been on the books since about 1958.
“We may not be good but we sure are slow,” McSorley
joked.
The bypass is a direct
result of the tri-county Memorandum of Understanding between Amador, Alpine and
Calaveras counties which has allowed the three counties to pool STIP money. The
Angels Camp Bypass alone will cost $60 million.
The meeting was sponsored by MyValleySprings.com and the Foothill Conservancy.
It is the second in a series of public meetings designed to encourage public input.
There will be another presentation in the multi-purpose room of
Contact Colin Rigley at crigley@calaverasenterprise.com.