County approves funding for Phase 1 of Placer Parkway project

The Placer County Board of Supervisors approved advance funding for Phase 1 of the Placer Parkway project Tuesday. Placer Parkway is a 15-mile long, limited-access expressway that will connect State Route 65 to State Route 70/99 in south Sutter County. According to the staff report, the Placer Parkway was approved by the South Placer Regional Transportation Authority in 2009 to relieve congestion in southern Placer County. "Today, Interstate 80 is really the spine to the transportation system for Placer County," said Ken Grehm, director of Placer County Public Works. "Placer Parkway will provide an alternative east-west connector and also to help alleviate some of the traffic concerns on Highway 65, kind of in the Roseville/Rocklin area down to the 80/65 interchange. So this alternative is very important in the long-term transportation planning prospects for our county." According to Grehm, the first phase of the project will go from the SR 65 interchange at Whitney Ranch Parkway and over the Union Pacific Railroad track to end at a signalized intersection with Foothills Boulevard. Grehm confirmed the first phase will include improving the functionality of the Whitney Ranch Parkway interchange. Grehm said the cost of the parkway is projected in excess of $600 million, with Phase 1 costing $82 million. Funding is proposed through the Tier 2 Traffic Fee Impact Program with the developments in western Placer, like the Placer Vineyards, Placer Ranch and Sierra Vista specific plans. "Normally when we do these projects, we pay as you go," Grehm said. "We collect the money and when we collect enough money, we'll go ahead and build that facility. At $82 million, we anticipate that would likely take 15-plus years, if we're lucky and depending on how inflation hits us, before we could ever consider building the first phase. That is just too long of a time to get this important facility started." As a result, a Funding and Reimbursement Agreement was finalized with the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) for the construction of Phase 1. Under the agreement, the county will contribute $36.7 million in reimbursable funds and the UAIC will contribute $17.4 million in non-reimbursable funds and $27.7 million in reimbursable funds, according to the staff report. For the reimbursable funds, Grehm said the UAIC and county will be repaid through the collected Tier 2 fee revenues from developments in the cities of Lincoln, Rocklin and Roseville, with the tribe being paid in full in 2034-35, and the county being paid in 2037-38. Grehm confirmed if development does not happen, the county will provide an annual payment, or the UAIC will take a credit on its annual in-lieu property tax if no payment is provided. A final provision of the agreement included the recognition of a connector road that will be built from Placer Parkway to Thunder Valley Casino to avoid clogging the Foothills Boulevard intersection. Grehm said if the UAIC decides to build the connector, it would be at the tribe's expense to construct, maintain and operate the road. The board received one comment from resident Michael Garabedian, noting the county pursuing the parkway project is a "slap in the face" of the voters who turned down Measure M, which included the project, in 2016. Garabedian also said it is a "false idea" that the parkway will reduce congestion. The board approved the advance funding in a unanimous vote. According to Grehm, the project is in the right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation phase, which is intended to continue through 2023. Bidding and construction is anticipated for spring 2024.