“We have reached a major milestone to reconfigure the Highway 65 interchange at Interstate 80, which currently is our region’s most challenging bottleneck,” says Celia McAdam, Executive Director of Placer County Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA). “This first phase will improve safety and reduce traffic delays on I-80..”
PCTPA, in partnership with California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the South Placer Regional Transportation Authority, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Placer County, and the cities of Roseville, Rocklin, and Lincoln kicked off Phase 1 of the Interstate 80 / Highway 65 Interchange Improvements Project with a groundbreaking celebration.
More than 75 people attended the event which was held on December 13th and included the following speakers: PCTPA Executive Director Celia McAdam, Caltrans District 3 Director Amarjeet Benipal, incoming PCTPA Vice Chair and Auburn Mayor Bridget Powers, California Transportation Commissioner Jim Earp, Federal Highway Division Administrator Vince Mammano, and Roseville City Councilmember Scott Alvord.
“This project will have a huge impact on transportation, economic development and quality of life in Placer County,” says incoming PCTPA Vice Chair and Auburn Mayor Bridget Powers. “The improvements will serve more than 115,000 vehicles each day and provide an estimated $77 million annually in time savings for travelers.
PCTPA and its partners have created a phased approach which will allow them to move forward on fixing the problem on an incremental basis. The first phase of the Interstate 80/Highway 65 Improvement Project is expected to bring relief to motorists that are stuck in the back-up on Interstate 80. This phase will provide a third lane on northbound State Route 65 from I-80 to Pleasant Grove Boulevard and improvements to the Galleria Boulevard/Stanford Ranch Road interchange at a cost of $50 million.
Despite funding challenges, PCTPA and its partners garnered several funding sources to complete the $50 million first phase. The I-80 Bottleneck project through Roseville was completed in 2011 under budget, thus, PCTPA is able to use nearly $10 million dollars from that project savings.
“While this first phase will be a great asset to the community, we know it is only one step towards the larger project that we still need to find additional funding sources to construct the entire project,” says McAdam.
At the conclusion of the groundbreaking ceremony, the program speakers commemorated the groundbreaking of Phase 1 by placing their hand prints into a concrete slab.
This slab will be incorporated into the project later.
Amarjeet Benipal, Caltrans District 3 Director
Program Speakers placing their hands in the concrete slab, to be later incorporated into the project