FINAL DRAFT PROJECT OBJECTIVE

Through a collaborative, community-focused process, identify preferred improvements and actions that preserve community assets and enhance multi-modal mobility, health and safety, aesthetics, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and recreational access along the Hazel Avenue Corridor Study Area.

Final Draft Problem Statement

Through an extensive interview and discussion process, with input from the community attending the Public Open House and comments on the web site, the Hazel Avenue Corridor Study Community Advisory Committee has identified a broad range of issues that have been communicated as "the problem" with the Hazel Corridor. This Statement is a tool to develop a common understanding and agreement about issues and perceptions between CAC members.

Major north-south connector between I-80 and Hwy 50.
The Sacramento region does not have an outer beltway like many other metropolitan areas. The effect is that Hazel Avenue, as the easternmost north-south connector between I-80 and Hwy 50 and one of a limited number of ways to get over the American River, is a local arterial serving as an inter-regional corridor. It has become the key link for commuters traveling from suburb to suburb between major economic centers in Rancho Cordova, Roseville and Folsom. Hazel is also a major corridor for truck traffic, used as a bypass for commerce going through the east metropolitan area. As a result, there is confusion between residents and planners over the role Hazel plays, and how Hazel is to be used over time. Is it a major north south connector, major multi-use regional facility, a local arterial, or all three?

Quality of life impacts.
Although used as a regional connector, Hazel is still a street fronted by residences with intervening commercial uses. Many adjacent residents are settled and want to stay, having chosen the Fair Oaks and Orangevale communities for the rural atmosphere. There is a feeling of resentment at being the ones to suffer the consequences of increased growth in surrounding areas. Adjacent residents and businesses don't want Hazel to be a freeway to serve Placer County and Rancho Cordova. But its de facto use as one divides the community by width, congestion and speeds. Noise from the amount and speed of traffic and trucks is severe for people living and working on or near the corridor, as well as for pedestrians and cyclists. Multiple private and commercial driveways line the corridor, making ingress and egress from residential and commercial driveways along the corridor difficult given high speeds, congestion and large trucks. The extensive use of two-way left-turn "suicide" lanes to make left turns is perceived as dangerous, with too many quick dashes to beat traffic. And poor maintenance of the roadbed and shoulders makes traveling the corridor hard on vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

Congestion is bad and increasing.
Hazel is inadequately designed to meet regional, commuter and local demands. The corridor is approaching or exceeding its capacity during peak hours, and vehicle trips are anticipated to increase by as much as 44% over the next 20 years. There is significant growth planned in Placer County and the south Sunrise area without adequate consideration of appropriate transportation systems for these land uses, causing concern that increasing the number of lanes will only increase the amount of traffic due to latent demand. Traffic currently backs up from Highway 50 to Madison in the a.m. peak hour and from Greenback Lane to Highway 50 in the p.m. peak hour. The corridor congestion also spills over onto Folsom Boulevard and increases delays on Highway 50. Hazel also lacks adequate bus turnouts, which can aggravate congestion and slowdowns during peak hours, especially without the infrastructure and equipment needed to quickly assist people with disabilities.

Hazel is inefficient.
A lack of signal synchronization disrupts traffic flow, increasing driver agitation and encouraging running of stoplights and aggressive driving. Travel times are growing, increasing fuel consumption, air pollutants and loss of valuable time by residents, commuters and business. Local commuters cut through adjacent residential neighborhoods and through business parking lots to avoid congestion and save valuable time. Illinois Avenue is used often as a parallel to Hazel, and east-west streets such as Sunset, Winding Way and Phoenix bear the burden of this cut through traffic. People don't patronize local businesses at rush hour because it is too difficult to get in and out, impacting how businesses schedule and keep their appointments.

Truck traffic.
There are limited truck route alternatives for the eastern part the county. Although the community and local businesses need trucks for local commerce, Hazel is also used for regional truck access between Hwy 50 and I-80. Trucks are perceived as too fast, too big and too noisy, and Hazel has inadequate lane capacity and width to accommodate them. Large trucks that come up closely alongside them or block their views intimidate automobile drivers and cyclists. There is significant neighborhood concern that trucks use Hazel to avoid the truck scales on I-80, and enforcement is inadequate to stop them. Trucks add to congestion, drop gravel and materials that cause maintenance problems and can damage cars, block visibility, and take their toll on pavement. The large number of ingress and egress points and two-way left-turn lanes along the corridor increase the potential for accidents between trucks and autos, as auto drivers fail to respect that trucks are harder to stop and slower to respond. This slower response also aggravates drivers during rush hour, leading to more lane changes and aggressive driving.

Discontinuous, inadequate bike and pedestrian facilities.
Hazel is an important bike and pedestrian route for both local circulation and access to the American River Parkway. But it is not a user-friendly route for pedestrians, cyclists or persons with disabilities. Sidewalks, curbs, curb ramps/cuts and other accessibility features, gutters, landscaping, and safe bike lanes are missing in sections on both sides of the street. Such facilities are needed to protect walkers and cyclists from high speeds and make the busy street safe and accessible to residents. Shoulders are very sporadic from narrow to non-existent, or so poorly maintained they can't be used. Debris pushed from the road is a problem, making cycling surfaces uneven and uncomfortable, with sharp objects that can cause blowouts and flats. A lot of driving maneuvers outside lanes, such as ingress and egress from residential and commercial driveways raises access and safety concerns for those trying to cycle or walk. Drivers have often been observed speeding and driving aggressively, especially around Nimbus Flat where cycling is encouraged and the bicycle infrastructure is promoted as a viable alternative to Highway 50 traffic. Hazel is especially inaccessible to people with disabilities. The lack of good walking and biking facilities, and the difficulty in crossing Hazel, divides the community and forces people to use a car for all trips, exasperating congestion and air quality problems.

Air Quality and noise in the corridor is unhealthy.
Residences near Hazel Avenue, as well as cyclists and pedestrians, are currently experiencing (according to a 1996 FEIR for the Hazel/Madison intersection project) 8 hour concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) that are clearly in the unhealthy range and well above the state and federal standards. These residences are also experiencing a high level of particulates (standards are not yet established) which are greatly increased by the high level of truck traffic (5% to 18% by informal count). All residences in the area, not only those near the roadway are experiencing today an exceptionally high level of ozone (unhealthy) caused by increased congestion and diesel engines. To complicate matters further for residences near Hazel, they are getting an unhealthy level of noise. The combination of all these challenges to health has not been studied, but certainly warrant increased attention.

The American River Parkway is a major recreational resource with poor bike and pedestrian access from Hazel.
The American River Parkway is the premier recreational "jewel" of the Sacramento area, with over 26 miles of bike, pedestrian and equestrian trails from Folsom Lake to Discovery Park downtown. Many cyclists commute from Orangevale and Placer County, yet the only alternative access into the Parkway is off Sunset Avenue, which can add five to six miles for a cyclist trying to use the Parkway. The existing bike access to the Parkway off the Hazel Avenue Bridge also raises access and safety concerns. Cyclists are exposed to high-speed traffic on the east side of the bridge, which they are supposed to use northbound, and the stairway access to the bike trail on the northeast side is difficult to maneuver with a bike. This causes safety concerns and a bottleneck of pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians using the west covered bridge trail for both north and southbound travel. On- and off-ramps onto the Hazel American River Bike Trail are a steep 17% grade in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The sidewalk over the river (on bridge) leads to an illegal steep ramp that ends at a guardrail, where pedestrians are forced out into the street.

Poor aesthetics.
Aesthetically Hazel Avenue is a hodgepodge of improvements including partial widenings that end at guardrails, non-continuous sidewalks, curbs, limited landscaping, utility poles, and both blighted and improved properties. The corridor lacks a sense of community identity or community pride. Noise, flying debris, air pollution and lack of privacy makes front yards along Hazel unusable, so there is little incentive to make front yard improvements. Poor aesthetics hurt local businesses that compete with newer areas such as Roseville.

Inadequate transit services.
Bus service on Hazel is limited to two existing "express" bus routes, with poor to no access for persons with disabilities. This route currently takes nearly an hour to pick up in four places on Hazel and drop off in four places downtown, as the buses are delayed by auto congestion on Hazel and the freeway. Light rail transit will be stopping at Hazel and Folsom Boulevard by 2003, but there is no multi-modal plan to feed into the future light rail station beyond shifting the 109 bus line to transfer to the train. There is also no effort to increase residential ride sharing/carpools along Hazel to minimize congestion. Requests for more, ADA-accessible transit to deal with regional commuter demands on the corridor face the conundrum that higher residential and employment densities are required to meet fare-box goals, and higher density is inconsistent with the local semi-rural community context and community plans.

Limited link between land use and transportation.
In newly developing areas, ultimate roadway improvements to meet build-out traffic demands are planned for and funded up-front though developer fees, bonding, or finance districts. In the older portions of the County such as the Hazel Avenue corridor, development has occurred in a more ad-hoc fashion over time. As a result, transportation improvements are typically reactionary to accident history and diminished roadway capacity as densities in feeder areas increase. Much of the traffic congestion on Hazel Avenue is the result of vehicular movement between economic centers surrounding the project study area. The Orangevale and Fair Oaks communities adjacent to the study corridor are low-density, semi-rural residential suburbs, with development patterns dependent upon the automobile for transportation. Existing zoning maintains these low-density patterns, with single-family residential and limited strip retail commercial land uses lining the Hazel corridor. The area is mostly built out, with limited right-of-ways, and neighborhood opposition to intensification of remaining vacant parcels and increasing densities has been strong. Yet such land uses are inconsistent with typical methods of congestion relief, such as limited access roads, additional lanes, and higher transit usage, making congestion relief in the corridor particularly challenging.

Integration of Related Transportation Projects.
Sacramento County has several transportation projects currently under development, pending approval, or under construction on or near Hazel Avenue. These projects appear to be working against each other or without a full understanding of the impacts each project has on the other. There needs to be a collaborative effort between the Hazel Avenue Corridor Study and these other efforts. Specifically, the Taskforce for Trucks on Major Roads (Howe, Watt, Sunrise, and Hazel), as directed by the Board of Supervisors, will make recommendations in an attempt to resolve the truck problems on these roads. These recommendations are due to be presented by the end of the summer. This major study is underway and directly impacts the Hazel Avenue Corridor study. Another major study/project that is underway is the study of bike and/or equestrian trail development throughout the county. Recommendations and outcomes from these and other studies/projects could have an impact on the Hazel Corridor, and need to be carefully considered and integrated into the process.