>As you may or may not know, Cal-Trans will be shutting down parts of I-5 in Sacramento at the end of this month. Apparently, Cal-Trans has been having community meetings to help people understand the impact that the roadwork will have on the daily commute.
Basically, they said that if people don’t alter their travel patterns, the surface streets around Sacramento will be unable to handle the usual traffic that will be diverted off I-5. During these community meetings, I’ve heard that Cal-Trans recommended the following alternatives (my reactions in parentheses):
- Take public transportation (Hide your valuables!)
- Change your commute times to leave earlier or later (If I could do that, I already would be doing that!)
- Telecommute (See comment above)
- Bicycling (HAHAHAHAHA! Are they serious?)
- Go on vacation (For three months?)
How in the blue hell are you supposed to ride a bicycle to work if you live out in Elk Grove or Roseville? These suggestions are ridiculous. I would love to go on vacation for 3 months, but since I have no trust fund or rich husband to support me, I have to go to WORK.
In a few weeks we’ll see just how awful the traffic will be on the surface streets around I-5. My guess is that there will only be a small percentage of people who are able to change their daily commute habits and thus it will have no impact on the gridlock in the future.
Mark your calendars, May 30th will be here soon!
Mara 
SFChick74
>I left California for New Mexico to avoid ludicrous traffic and unaffordable housing.
Mind you…
If you don’t mind my asking, what do you make of my animal bronzes?
If you like them, I love it if you’d show your friends!
I’m trying to get my work seen by a wider audience.
If not, thanks for looking.
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There’s some ‘how it’s made’ stuff on my blog too,
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>Here’s the thing about the I-5 project: it has to be done. The choices CalTrans had to do this work would all involve varying levels of inconvenience and it boiled down to this: do it quickly at a major inconvenience or do it slowly at a somewhat less major inconvenience.
By doing it quickly, they minimize the number of days people have to be inconvenienced. I think it’s the right choice. Frankly, I’m surprised they’re going to be able to do it with as little disruption as they are.
There is another option for people unable or unwilling to try any of those other options: find an alternate route and be glad the project will only take a few months instead of a few years.
>That first comment looks a bit spammy.
I can handle a little inconvenience due to road construction even for years if need be.
I agree that the roads are in awful condition (pretty much all over the state) and the work needs to be done, but I really think the schedule they are going with is not smart. I really hope the giant city-wide traffic jams I keep envisioning won’t come to fruition.
Even if commuters did change their habits, what about all those semi-trucks hauling stuff? Are they supposed to go on vacation or take the bus instead? Maybe a bicycle hauling a load of tomatoes would be a better option.
I do have to say that Cal-Trans is doing a good job at getting the word out though. It’s plastered on every Amber alert sign in the area.
>Heh. Bicycles hauling tomatoes paints a funny picture.