Traffic and Its Discontents

By C. Howell Ellerman

Neighbors speed through quiet residential streets only to reach the hobbled traffic of our thoroughfares. Something's not working.

There's got to be a better way. Traffic in neighborhoods like Highland Hills and Marina Village must be calmed down before we lose another precious child. And the traffic on the major thoroughfares need smarter software, or some reprogramming, so that traffic flows on them efficiently.

The problem is that we've had traffic engineers in El Dorado County making our planning decisions for us. Now don't get me wrong. Traffic engineers are fine people. It's just that they are trained to make cars go fast. Places that are good for cars are generally not good for people. That's why cities like Placerville, Folsom and Sacramento use traffic calming techniques in neighborhoods. Places where we want people to be walking, like in neighborhoods, should be places where cars go slower. And the places where we want cars to faster should have synchronization software that keeps traffic moving at a safe and efficient speed where twenty cars aren't having to brake from going 50 to stop for one car making a left turn. How hard can this be?

LAFCO reports that even in the first year of incorporation local road maintenance will see a substantial improvement. I'd like to see that money go to repair roads that have been worn out by construction trucks, and for a better traffic managment program for El Dorado Hills Boulevard and Green Valley Road.