So I see they are working on the roundabout.
I truly do not care since I do not live in town anymore, but I am still adamant that a roundabout there is a very bad idea. Very Bad.
Yes, Roundabouts work in Europe and the can also work in RURAL roads, such as near Sierra College and Briar Patch.
Why does it work there and not were they are building one now?
Why the roundabout works at Sierra College NC Campus- the roads connecting to the roundabout are single lane roads
- there are no roads connecting to those roads in the nearby vicinity only entrances to parking lots.
- the traffic so far is very very light.
Why the roundabout does not work at Sierra College NC Campus- It is too small.
Why the roundabout will NOT work at Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street
The biggest reason is:
it too busy of an intersection
There are issues connected with the above reason, such as,
- traffic will stifle
- people do not know how to go through roundabouts, so this is not where you want to teach them at a VERY busy intersection
- no one will slow down
- no one will give right away to anyone
- no one on the side streets such as Eureka will be able to pull into traffic because there will be a constant barage of cars from both directions. (this is happening even before the roundabout and is due to the stop light near the post office, which is another stupid idea)
Let's see how the development is going.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
$2.4 million roundabout expected by late October
Construction of a $2.4 million roundabout at one of Grass Valley's busiest intersections - Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street - could get underway next month and end in October at a lower than expected cost.
The Grass Valley City Council is expected to award a bid for the roundabout at tonight's meeting, said Tim Kiser, the city's director of Public Works. Hansen Bros. Enterprises of Grass Valley has submitted a bid of $1.4 million for construction phase of the project, apparently the lowest of six bids. The highest bid of $2.1 million was offered by a Chico construction firm.
"We really got a good bid at $1.4 million," Kiser said. "Most of the work will be done at night to avoid traffic impacts during the day."
City officials hope the work can start July 1, Kiser said. If that happens, the construction schedule of 80 working days puts completion at Oct. 20.
Drivers will be routed into the roundabout in phases to get them acclimated to the different intersection layout, Kiser said.
Roundabouts use yield signs at corners to feed traffic into a constant left turning circle, with no stop signs involved. A smaller roundabout has been built at Sierra College at the intersection of Sierra College Drive and Litton Springs Road.
The middle of the Idaho-Maryland roundabout circle is slated to have trees and decorative additions for esthetics. Roundabout designers say placing things in the middle of the circle stops confusion, as well as preventing motorists from driving over the top of them.
The city recently bought 3,255 square feet of land for $82,000 from Hills Flat Lumber to have more room to build the roundabout, which will also accept and direct traffic for the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley. Caltrans is expected to work on highway improvements to go along with the roundabout.
>dogbert wrote:
Wednesday, June 11, 2008Wheels set in motion for East Main roundabout
The contract for the roundabout at East Main Street and Idaho-Maryland Road in Grass Valley was approved Tuesday night, and motorists should expect construction work to begin soon at the busy intersection.
The Grass Valley City Council accepted a bid of $1.4 million from local contractors Hansen Bros. Enterprises, which was $500,000 less than what the city thought the project would cost to construct.
The city hopes the firm can start July 1 and complete the project in the 80 days allotted, or around late October, said Public Works Director Tim Kiser. Most work will be done at night to avoid confusion and traffic congestion.
Construction crews will funnel drivers into the project in phases to familiarize them with the roundabout as it's being built, Kiser said.
The project will include trees and mining memorabilia in the middle to catch motorists' attention and make them realize they can't drive over it. The design also will provide entrance and exit ramps for the adjacent Golden Center Freeway.
The roundabout is a free-flowing alternative to signals, where drivers pull up to an intersection with yield signs that direct them into a constant circle of traffic going left. There already are several roundabouts in Nevada County, including one at the entrance to Sierra College in Grass Valley and two in Truckee.
Rounded intersections have been in the United States since 1904, when the Columbus Circle was built in New York City, according to the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The Columbus Circle and others began to pop up in the eastern United States but fell out of favor by the 1960s because they allowed drivers to turn left or right into them, causing traffic tie-ups and confusion.
Experts at the Road Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom came up with the concept of the modern roundabout, when they realized drivers couldn't turn into oncoming traffic to make them work. The British decided to use splitter islands to force motorists into the roundabout, which eliminated the turn into oncoming traffic and forced drivers to yield to traffic from the left.
Once that design was implemented in 1966, roundabouts flourished around the world, particularly in Europe, where there are 15,000 in France alone. There are more than 600 roundabouts in the United States with plans for more, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
RetiredUSA wrote:
there they go again...and putting mining stuff in the round about? Brilliant idea, so people won't pay attention and cause more accidents, i hate those round about things....no one makes signals, been almost hit several times.so were paying our taxes for the city people (management) to make these type of things.......can't wait till the wife retires and move out of state.
The independent wrote:
Dorsey will be built instead of important monies being used on Hwy 49 which has far more traffic. So on the money, gotta wonder how many times who came up with the cost for the intersection, overestimating 1/2 million dollars. It would be good to know, after its built, what it's true cost was. Including the multiple times it was designed......
MDE wrote:
I think that working at night is a really good idea, except for the people who live near there. This will be a bad idea along the lines of moving the post office to Bennett and Main. I think the monies should be going to Dorsey Drive. That would also have lessened the use of that intersection.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008Council OKs new fees to pay for road projects
New traffic fees approved by the Grass Valley City Council Tuesday night will help pay for road projects to help manage future growth.
The fees will fund 15 major regional road projects that are expected to cost $72.6 million or more.
"No one likes to raise fees," said Councilman Chauncey Poston. "We all know we haven't collected enough fees" for roads. "It's doing something in a more holistic way with the county."
In May, the city proposed a new set of traffic impact fees to help offset the cost of road projects that are needed because of new development.
The council brought them back for revisal Tuesday, with a new set of fees to coincide with ones adopted by the county earlier this month.
The fees from Grass Valley and the county will all go into the same pot to build 15 projects in Grass Valley, Nevada City and Nevada County, said Grass Valley Public Works Director Tim Kiser.
Nevada City is expected to discuss the traffic impact fees in upcoming weeks.
The money will help pay for nine projects in the Grass Valley area, including the Dorsey Drive interchange at the Golden Center Freeway.
The project is expected to help improve traffic flow to the hospital and schools, as well as reduce the traffic bottlenecks in the Brunswick Basin, though critics claim it is unnecessary.
Under state law, developers pay only for their share of a development, and officials use formulas based on vehicle trips per residence or square footage of a business to calculate that share.
The city must pay about $15.1 million toward the $33 million interchange.
Officials hope to raise part of the money through a half-cent citywide sales tax initiative to supplement $18.1 million that the state has set aside for the project, according to county transportation officials.
Though an initiative is planned for the November ballot, some observers are predicting it will be postponed, largely because of the ill-timing due to an economic slump.
Among other transportation projects compiled by Nevada County Transportation Commission and listed by priority are:
• The roundabout at the intersection of Idaho-Maryland Road, East Main Street and the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley.
• Brunswick Road and Loma Rica Road intersection improvements.
• Ridge Road and Gold Flat Road interchange in Nevada City.
• Brunswick Road southbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley.
• Highway 49 and Combie Raid intersection in the county
• East Main Street and Bennett Street area in Grass Valley.
• McKnight Way interchange.
• Highway 20 and Pleasant Valley Road intersection.
• Northbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway from Idaho-Maryland Road.
• Eastbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway from McCourtney Road.
• Dorsey Drive extension from Sutton Way to Brunswick Road.
Friday, August 22, 2008New Longs Drugs proposed for Idaho-Maryland intersectionA new Longs Drugs store for one of the county’s busiest intersections will be pitched at a City of Grass Valley meeting Tuesday, The Union has learned.
The city’s Development Review Committee will consider an application to build an almost 14,000 square-foot Longs store at the corner of Idaho-Maryland Road and West Main Street.
The plan includes a drive-through window and a 2,200 square-foot delivery dock located at 115 Idaho-Maryland Drive.
The store would be on the old location of Hills Flat Lumber at the corner that is under construction for a roundabout to ease congestion. The $1.4 million roundabout, with trees and mining memorabilia in the middle, is expected to be completed in October.
It would be the fourth large chain drugstore in the Grass Valley area, including an existing Longs, a Rite-Aid and a proposed Walgreens in nearby Glenbrook Basin.
The large number of drugstores in such a small region reflects the demographics of the area’s older population.
Real-estate sources said last week that such a plan was in the works on the Pardini family’s former Hills Flat Lumber business, but wondered if the pending sale of Longs to CVS Caremark would upset the deal.
Last week, Longs Drugs said it would be sold to CVS Caremark for $2.7 billion.
The existing Longs in Glenbrook Basin and the one on Combie Road are expected to be rebranded as CVS pharmacies next year, a spokesman said.
The committee meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Hullender Community Room in the basement of City Hall.
Baja wrote:
It's this simple... a "drive-thru' is not allowed at this location. The site is zoned "NC", drive-thurs are not allowed in the "NC" zoning district. There is no basis for a variance to allow a drive-thur at this site.
When the Walgreens project was reviewed city staff, some planning commissioners and some city council members said they could not do much to make the Walgreens better or to stop the "drive-thur" becasue it was zoned "C", not "NC". Thus they approved the Walgreens drive-thur at one of the worst intersections in GV.
Two members of the city council that are now running for re-election said they couldn't stop the Walgreens drive-thur becasue the property was zoned "C", not "NC". The proposed Long's site IS zoned "NC" and the "drive-thur" is not allowed... will they keep their word to the voters, will those council members seeking re-election keep their word?
DDD420 wrote:
WHAT?????Are you kidding me? They are removing the Longs we have to replace with another drugstore, just to move another Longs down the street, then they turn around and complain about the drug problem we have in the community,what is wrong with these people? It's stupid enough we are getting a Walgreens right across the street from Rite Aid and CVS.I can think of a few things off hand that would be better for our community Trader Joes, Ross for example. Does any one know where to go to suggest such places for GV?
raidervick wrote:
Are ya friggon nuts? As if we need another drugstore! Not to mention all the traffic problems it would create in an already busy as heck intersection. If GV approves this they are stupider than I thought, & will prove how greedy everyone already thinks they are!
Nevadacitybob wrote:
Trader Joe's ?
HealingFrog wrote:
It's amazing how many drugs Americans are hooked on. Try a healthier lifestyle instead of making the drug company stockholders so rich!
Annonymous2 wrote:
I suggest that every member of the planning department make a field trip to the current Long's. It has to be the worst store I have ever stepped foot into. Their customer service is awful and so are their prices. You know what would go great where the old Hills Flat is....nothing!!! Let's try that for a while. Hey, just because there is open space doesn't mean it needs to be filled!
Baja wrote:
Let's see...the site is zoned "N/C", guess what? This use is not what is allowed in the N/C zoning.
Remember during the Walgreens review process members of the planning staff, planning commission and a few council members said (it's on tape folks) they couldn't do much to make the Walgreens project better because it was zoned C-2, not zoned N/C. They said if it was zoned N/C that it would be a whole different thing.
Now is the time for the city staff, commission and the council to keep their word on the proposed Long's project. Will we see a big attempt to flip-flop from the positions they took during the Walgreen's project review? Will they keep their word?
There is an election comming up, two city council members that are running for re-election stated during the Walgreens project review that they would uphold the adopted rules for the N/C zoning district. If they want to get re-elected they can start by keeping their word to the community.
OU812 wrote:
Once Hills Flat moved over to RR Avenue, the intersecton of I-M and Main became tolerable. Now that CVS (Long's) will occupy that place, I guess the traffic will return. Of course, the cure-all will be the roundabout, but I pitty pedestrians trying to navigate across the revamped intersection.
Now, the guessing game will be 'who will move in to the soon-to-be vacated Long's on Sutton?' Perhaps one of the businesses on Freeman Lane/McKnight looking for expansion? Maybe Calif. Organics will reconsider their possible move to Broad St. Furniture?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008A full decade around the roundabout
It's been 10 years since Truckee's first roundabout, and new ones are still popping up.
Doesn't mean they work.
The town's initial roundabout was built on the western entrance to downtown Truckee in 1998, and the circular intersections have since appeared on Brockway Road, Highway 89 - both north and south - and elsewhere as a part of new development and growing traffic. And as the town continues to grow, even more roundabouts are planned to aid intersections and replace stop lights, Truckee officials said.
"I know when we built the first one, there was a lot of skepticism," said Dan Wilkins, Truckee's director of public works. "After about a year, we heard a lot of comments from skeptics who overcame their skepticism." From a technical standpoint, both Wilkins and Truckee police Sgt. Jason Litchie said they are working.
"They're considerably safer, and that's especially true on Highway 89 south," Litchie said. "They've greatly improved traffic flow, and we used to get a couple very serious collisions their every few months, and now we have zero."
Litchie said the main benefit is that roundabouts make people slow down.
THEY DON'T WORK to slow people down. People still go through them too fast.
Wilkins said the biggest issue is the learning curve - getting used to a type of intersection still relatively new to the country.
"The whole element of lack of familiarity goes away, but because we get so many first-time visitors on our roadways we have a constant lack of familiarity," Wilkins said.
Local resident John Gotgart, who said he likes the roundabouts, had a similar observation. "I don't think they're bad, it's just a lot of people don't know how to operate the things - that's the problem," he said. "But I like that they keep things moving."
Sometimes you need to slow things down or stop them, to let people know they are the the rulers of the road. You have pedestrians, bicyclist, and so forth.
The damn city planners for any city design cities for cars NOT people. but it is the people who inhabit them.
But John Fraser, a downtown business owner, said he hasn't come around to them yet. "I think they're a pain in the neck. They certainly confuse people," Fraser said.
Cyclists have also had to figure out the best way through a roundabout, said Dan Warren, a local bicycle commuter. "It was initially daunting figuring out where we were supposed to be," Warren said. "We've found we have to establish the lane as our own going through - once you do that, it works well."
Jim Sayer, a former Truckee resident and cycling advocate, said there are fewer points of conflict in a roundabout than an intersection with signals.
"For drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, once they get used to it, it's a lot easier to get through," said Sayer, executive director of Adventure Cycling Association. "And you don't have to wait for a signal."
With roundabouts reducing both the number of accidents and their severity, Wilkins said Truckee will continue to add roundabouts at intersections in need.
As new development brings more traffic, roundabouts could appear on Donner Pass Road between downtown and Interstate 80, at Donner Pass Road and Coldstream, and on the other side of the overpass, at Brockway and Highway 267, accessing the Hilltop development, at Pioneer Trail, and Highway 89 south and Donner Pass Road, Wilkins said.
"They're a work in progress and I think with every new roundabout we learn a little more whether it be on landscaping or lane widths," Wilkins said.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008City’s deficit swells to $650,000 Grass Valley is $650,000 short in its general fund budget and will need to find ways to balance it amid declining tax revenues.
The situation is worsened by the lack of a state budget and the uncertainty of its impact on the city, said City Administrator Dan Holler Tuesday night at the City Council meeting.
“There were a lot of uncertainties in our property tax and sales tax projections,” Holler said.
Original projections caused a $215,000 deficit when the budget was adopted earlier this year, but now the shortfall has grown to $650,000 as tax revenues continue to come in at a slower rate than predicted. Slow movement in the housing market and a general decline in consumer spending have caused tax revenues to drop, Holler said.
About $200,000 of the shortfall will be taken care of by decreased employee expenses, Holler said. In the last week, three full-time public works employees were laid off and another worker had his hours cut.
In the last three years, the city has lost 17 positions, going from 140 to 123, Holler said. In addition, several police and fire department employees will be retiring or leaving by the end of the year.
One police sergeant will probably be replaced by a street patrolman and the fire chief spot will also probably be refilled by a regular fireman, Holler said.
Other cost-cutting options include a modified hiring freeze, reduction in spending, a reduced work week at City Hall and shutting down City Hall up to one day per week.
“Do we need to be open from 8 to 5?,” Holler asked rhetorically.
Three years down the road, the city might find itself leaner but more efficient, Holler said. He expects staff members to come back with recommendations in 60 days to make up the remaining $400,000 general fund deficit.
Upcoming negotiations with city bargaining units will have to take the Grass Valley’s fiscal status into play, “and that will make it more difficult,” Holler said.
Meanwhile, a plan to issue $5 million in redevelopment bonds for cooperative construction projects was approved by the Grass Valley City Council Tuesday night.
The bonds have been used for downtown infrastructure projects in the past, such as storm drainage.
“We want to start talking with property owners about streets, sidewalks, water, sewer and drainage issues,” said City Administrator Dan Holler. “We want to partner to reinvest in neighborhoods,” which include Colfax Avenue, South Auburn Street, downtown, the Idaho-Maryland Road — East Main Street area and infrastructure in general.
“We need their input and what they need to make their businesses more profitable,” Holler said. “We’re looking for on-the-ground projects with partners.”
Projects will be picked with priorities for readiness, participation of the property owner, benefits to the public and investment return, according to city documents.
“Five million won’t go far. The question is who is ready and can we leverage that investment?” Holler said. “Hopefully we’ll get four or five projects.”
The council approved a ceiling of $9 million in redevelopment bonds, with $5 million in new ones to be issued and more than $3 million in rebuilding bonds the city holds for refinancing.
Some ideas are circulating for the bonds in each of the areas, Holler said. The downtown area needs parking spots, and the city will look at using part of the money to handle parking.
“There are vacant buildings on Colfax Avenue. How do we deal with that whole area?” Holler said.
The Idaho-Maryland area around the under-construction roundabout with Sears, and the proposed Longs offer potential, Holler said. The vacant lot left on East Main Street, where Weaver Auto and Truck Center was before moving to Idaho-Maryland Road, could also be promising, he said.
A new bus transfer station on Tinloy Street between Bennett and Bank streets also is a possible project, Holler said.
The concept from the Nevada County Transportation Commission for a turnout for Gold Country Stage buses and shelters for riders also could serve as a kickoff to the Wolf Creek Trail project, Holler said.
The site already has been studied with federal funding and could possibly become a reality if the city’s bonds are used, but the early cost estimate is $2 million, said Dan Landon, executive director of the transportation commission.
The Tinloy Avenue site would mean easy access for busses and riders going into downtown, Landon said. The transfer site at Church and Neal streets is tight and does not provide enough room for all busses at times, he added.
Blogzilla wrote:
Douglas MacDock wrote: "I bet the city wishes they could get the money back they squandered on that lawsuit against the mine owners. What was it? 1.6 mill?"
Let's get facts straight, the lawsuit is against Newmont minging, not the folks at the Idaho-Maryland as inferred. If that was not your intention, I appoligize whole-heartedly.
Yes they, the City, "squandered" their money on a lawsuit which if they can do it over again and take Newmont's original offer, they would have an up to date sewage facility. Instead, they are dragging this on to where there will be no winner. The City created/exposed the mess, now they/we are paying for it.
Back to the deficit. Let's start cooperating with industry instead of fighting it. It's good buisness for Grass Valley.
Argonaut wrote:
Hey Lighthouse I almost forgot, thanks for the stock tip yesterday. I bought 100,000 shares of Emgold for 6.5 cents and made $2000 on it today. Thanks for the “Heads Up”.
Argonaut wrote:
Lighthouse you’re right that poor transportation systems and high costs are obstacles to starting any project. But a good ore body can more than overcome those obstacles. Remember that Nevada County was the highest gold producing county in the state and Grass Valley was the highest producing district in Nevada County. The value of the ore left in the Idaho-Maryland is likely in the billions of dollars. So why not get a piece of that if it can be done responsibly.
lighthouse1 wrote:
News flash. Heavy industry of any signficance is NOT coming back here for a variety of reasons; mainly the lack of a modern transportation system and high costs. Nostalgia cannot overcome economics, financial, environmental and logistical realities. Sorry.
Factguy wrote:
Wake up people. We need all types of new industry in this city and county to counter this downward economic spiral that our state and country are in. Sure, light industry and hi-tech are good, but the fact is that hi-tech peaked when Grass Valley Group employed 1200 people, and the small companies formed since do not employ many people and their growth has not kept pace with the increasing population. Light industry helps, but again these are small companies, and ERC has not been able to attract those types of businesses here. This area used to have heavy industry, and it needs it again. Environmental regulations, inspections, financial bonding, and modern technology prevent the toxic problems that occurred in the past so a mine would be safe.
lighthouse1 wrote:
All the nostalgia, the optimism, the wishing, hoping, praying, fair booths, employees in key government positions, media and PR campaigns in the world can't change the fundamental flaws in the financial, operational, logistical plans and the many environmental obstacles here. Any objective observer would conclude there is virtually no one interested in investing in Emgold. While gold has nearly doubled in that time, and they have touted a supposed fortune in gold and a world changing tile technology, the underlying stock price of this shell company has become near worthless today. The fact that the stock has gone from about $1/share to 6.5 CENTS since this highly touted project has been on the table is not generally considered a good sign... Wake up.
Douglas MacDock wrote:
I bet the city wishes they could get the money back they squandered on that lawsuit against the mine owners. What was it? 1.6 mill?
Blogzilla wrote:
rantorator, that is exactly how the mine has anything to do with the subject of this article. This is a project that is already on the table, we should work with them to insure it is a responsible project but when all is said and done, allow them to move forward. I know that goes against the small handful of people that oppose it but this is the kind of project that can give a hugh boost to the local coffer. In the meantime, other industry/businesses can step up to the plate and do their part too. We need to create jobs so the money stays here.
Argonaut wrote:
Right on Ranterator!! I believe I read somewhere that the state entitlement programs were 1/3 of the state budget. If that’s true, it’s more the reason we need industry. The money has to come from somewhere. No wonder the state can’t resolve the budget!!
9/10/2008 4:26 PM PDT on theunion.com
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ranterator wrote:
I'm not quite sure how the mine has anything to do with Grass Valley getting yet more bonds to go further into debt...They talk like government employees retiring is a good thing;How much are they going to pay these people in monthly retirement payments?Medical insurance?How dare the economy slow down all these cities,counties and the states ability to hire their friends and spend even more money that isn't even theirs to begin with.They might as well open up a mine shaft and throw the money on in...
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