Tag Archives: Yolo Causeway

Will Sacramento freeways get multiple express lanes like planned? Judges will decide

By Tom Philp | July 31, 2024 | The Sacramento Bee

Asked last year why Caltrans ignored the SACOG alternative, spokesman Dennis Keaton said, “A multiple express lane alternative was never requested by SACOG to be analyzed.” Yet examining alternatives is the law. Complying with regional plans is also in Caltrans’ guidelines. Environmental groups have made these glaring weaknesses the basis of lawsuits filed in Alameda County Superior Court. The groups include the Sierra Club, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, PCL, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article290584834.html#storylink=cpy

Caltrans faces legal battle over I-80 Freeway

By Gerardo Zavala | June 7, 2024 | Daily Democrat

The Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento have filed a lawsuit against Caltrans alleging legally inadequate environmental analysis of the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements Project that would add two new lanes through Yolo County … A press release from the two environmental agencies filing the lawsuit claimed that the environmental impact report “grossly underestimates increased vehicular travel, which would emit far larger quantities of greenhouse gasses and air pollutants than claimed.”

Click here to read the article in full: https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2024/06/07/caltrans-faces-legal-battle-over-i-80-freeway-improvement-project-in-yolo-county/

Sierra Club and ECOS Sue Caltrans over Yolo I-80 Freeway Widening Project

On May 29, 2024, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) filed a lawsuit against Caltrans alleging legally inadequate environmental analysis of the I-80 freeway widening project through Yolo County. The lawsuit’s goal is to stop Caltrans from widening 17 miles of the I-80 freeway from six to eight lanes between Davis and Sacramento through the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area until Caltrans conducts a valid analysis of adverse environmental impacts threatened by the project and implements appropriate mitigation for these harmful effects.

Click here to view our press release.

Click here to view the petition.

Other environmental groups filed suit too.

Climate Committee meeting Dec. 13

December 13, 2022, 6 PM

I-80 Causeway, Adding Lanes between Davis and Sacramento

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

6 PM: Welcome and Introductions

6:10 PM: Adding Lanes to I-80 between Davis and Sacramento, including Yolo Causeway
Yolo County Transportation District’s Executive Director Autumn Bernstein will discuss plans to add “managed lanes”. In October, the District board agreed to an MOU with Caltrans to develop this project, and to apply for State funding to augment federal funds; SACOG has agreed to prioritize this project. A tolling authority is planned; the District will determine how tolling lane revenue should be spent. Can tolls be used to fund public transit, sufficient to fully mitigate additional vehicle-miles that this widening would induce?

6:45 PM: Measure A Failed — Can We Design a Better Measure A for 2024?
Roger Dickinson (former State Assemblymember and County Supervisor) will present ideas.

7:00 PM: Sacramento County Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force – met December 8.
Task Force Chair Timothy Irvine will update us.

7:15 PM, Updates:

1. City of Sacramento Preliminary Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
Comments on Preliminary Adaptation Plan were presented December 5.

2. Tsakopoulos’ Jackson Township project (1400 acres) EIR to County Supervisors December 13

All are welcome to present updates on additional items.

Click here to view the agenda in PDF.

Caltrans ready to expand Yolo Causeway, seeks public’s input

By Max Resnick

June 06, 2018

The Sacramento Bee 

Caltrans will begin the process of seeking public input on a proposal to improve traffic congestion on Interstate 80 between Solano and Sacramento counties.

The state’s transportation department wants to extend an existing carpool lane at the edge of Solano County through Yolo County and into Sacramento County

. . . 

The Environmental Council of Sacramento, a nonprofit whose mission, according to its website, is “to achieve regional and community sustainability and a healthy environment for existing and future residents,” opposes the idea.

The council believes it will actually worsen the traffic situation along the stretch of highway.

. . . 

“I like the idea of the bike path,” said Diane Swann, member of Bike Davis. “I don’t care about another HOV lane. I think that you widen the road, you get more cars.”

. . . 

Among the topics that could be discussed is whether to turn the lane into a toll lane.

Click here to read the full article.

To learn more about some of the problems caused by widening freeways, please read about our recent lawsuit against Caltrans for their plans to widen Highway 50 with High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes by clicking here.