Downtown Sacramento’s busiest streets should have bike lanes by August or September, according to city officials. The work will begin in June or July and should take a month to complete, according to Ed Williams, Associate Engineer with the city’s Department of Transportation. The intent of the project is to create bicycle lanes on the most-traveled downtown streets, including J, I, Fifth, Ninth and 10th streets and Capitol Mall, city officials previously told The Sacramento Press. On some streets, the plan is to take out one lane of vehicular traffic as is common in Midtown. Cyclists interviewed Tuesday applauded the city’s upcoming road work, which they said will add safety to street

Criticism over the handling of Sacramento tree removals sparked a heated debate at the November Parks and Recreation Commission meeting in city hall. Nathan Jacobsen, an attorney and environmental activist, spoke at the Parks and Recreation Commission tree appeal hearing to oppose a decision made by Jerry Way, Director of Transportation, to remove a Non-Heritage ‘Bradford’ Flowering Pear tree, located at 2001 10th Street. “The city should be protecting a public resource, not tearing it down or destroying it without a clear democratic process. Removals need to be supported by factual information,” Jacobsen said. On April 26, Jacobsen sent a request to meet with Way regarding the approval

Recently, A&E launched “Parking Wars,” a reality series chronicling the parking division in Philadelphia and Detroit and their encounters with the parking-impaired. I admit, I’m hooked. As I watched episode after episode, I found myself in awe at the sheer amount of rage that one dreaded slip of paper can instill in someone. As someone who has dumped my own fair share of hard-earned dollars into parking citations, I can understand why the ticketed become irate; times are tough and tickets are expensive. Curious why anyone would subject themselves to a job where harassment is guaranteed, I set my bitterness aside and asked the city if I could hang out with a parking enforcement officer. I

Construction on R Street downtown is on schedule for completion this fall, and local residents and businesses are largely supportive of the revamped streetscape that adds sidewalks, lighting and other amenities. “It’s progressing wonderfully,” said Dino R. Grassini, a manager at the Fox and Goose Pub and Restaurant, which sits on 10th and R streets. “Teichert (the contractor) is really helping minimize the impacts on business.” Construction has been taking place on R Street from 10th to 13th streets since last September, and the goals of the approximately $2.75 million project are to make continuous sidewalks, add street lighting and benches, and preserve some of the historic character,

Parking enforcement officers will now be taking pictures of parking infractions to answer the common question, “why did I get a ticket?” according to the city’s Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker. “We get a lot of calls every day and inquiries in our office, as well as people coming down to City Hall asking about why they got a ticket and wondering how they can contest the ticket,” Tucker said. “We wanted to address those questions and concerns and be able to put that information online.” The handheld ticketing device that the 50 state-employed parking enforcement officers currently use are also capable of taking pictures. With the help of a third party vendor in char

The City Council approved $30,915 for the design phase of H Street Bridge Repairs Project Tuesday, which will be done by Dokken Engineering. H Street Bridge is located where H and J streets come together on the west side of the bridge. The bridge turns into Fair Oaks Boulevard and connects the areas of downtown and East Sacramento. Assistant Civil Engineer for the Department of Transportation Josh Werner said the bridge was built in 1932, and improvements were last done in 1991 to 1992 to widen the bridge and reconstruct the bridge approach on the east side. Department of Transportation Engineering Services Manager Nicholas Theocharides said that while the work being done is nothing maj

The two city-funded bridges under construction in the railyards are scheduled to be completed next month. The bridges will make Fifth and Sixth streets continuous where they are currently cut off by the railyards just east of the Amtrak station downtown. “The bridges will be for both vehicle traffic and pedestrians,” said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Transportation. The transition of much of the railyards property from Thomas Enterprises to Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc. following Thomas Enterprises’ defaulting on loans will not affect the bridge construction, since they are on city-owned land, according to Tucker. When it comes to the track reali

Marshall Park neighborhood resident Alfred Alvarez was notified by the city of Sacramento’s Department of Transportation that he would be required to make repairs to sidewalks bordering two of his lots on F and 28th streets. Since 2005, Alvarez and city inspectors have disagreed about what can be labelled as a defective or hazardous sidewalk. Alvarez’ sidewalks have been assessed as needing repairs costing nearly $10,000, which under Sacramento’s city code would require him, the owner, to pay for the cost of all repairs as well as administrative and inspection costs required by the city. In response to these estimates, Alvarez stated that repairs would be made “over my dead body.” This

The city of Sacramento will begin repairs on six heavily traveled roadways next week. City workers will be doing overlays – the most extensive road work short of full reconstruction – to the streets, said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Transportation. A street overlay is done by first filling in all potholes and cracks in the pavement, then grinding it down several inches before repaving the street, Tucker said. The repaving is typically two to three inches thick and is good for 15-20 years. Overlays will be done on the following streets: • Second Avenue from Stockton Boulevard to Santa Cruz Way • Truxel Road from West El Camino Avenue to San Juan Road • Pocket

A study to map out a streetcar route linking Sacramento to West Sacramento is expected to start this fall, according to city Transportation Department spokeswoman Linda Tucker. More than $400,000 in funding has been set aside for the study -- $310,000 from federal grant funds obtained earlier this year and $90,000 from local transportation funds, said Azadeh Doherty, a principal planner in the department. The current plan for the streetcar includes a path in West Sacramento, but does not lay out a route in Sacramento. Under the most recent plan, the streetcar would run from West Sacramento City Hall, across Tower Bridge and stop in Old Sacramento at the foot of the bridge. The city will

 Maintaining Sacramento’s 100,000 trees is no small task, and with seven positions likely to be cut next week, the Urban Forestry tree maintenance staff will be stretched even thinner. “We’ve gone from about 58 full-time-equivalent employees to 28 since 2005,” said Urban Forestry Manager Joe Benassini. Those 28 positions are currently filled, with another eight technically on the books but not staffed. Benassini said the department has not been filling positions vacated through attrition in anticipation of the budget problems and has yet to lay off any employees. But unless an agreement with unions is made by Aug. 5, some staffers will be let go. Residents at the July 19 Area 1 Neighbo

The City of Sacramento's Parking Division and Revenue Division would like to share an update about expired residential parking permits. The City is in the process of renewing over 700 residential parking permits for the "K" parking area in Midtown. The current permits expired on May 31. Renewal permits are expected to be mailed out by Friday, June 4. Residents should continue to display their current permit until they receive the renewed permit. Specifically in the K residential parking area (designated by signage and located in Midtown), parking citations will not be issued for expired permits until after June 20, to allow enough time for permits to be received and displayed. If residen

About 40 people gathered at a local library Monday night to brainstorm ideas for new bridges or other structures to connect the cities of West Sacramento and Sacramento. The two cities are currently exploring ideas for new river crossings. The workshop held by the cities at the Arthur Turner Community Library in West Sacramento was one of a series of public meetings on the topic. Representatives from a variety of groups and agencies attended the workshop, including the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, the Sacramento Walking Sticks and the Land Park Community Association. Members of the various groups suggested ideas to consultants working on the study. Mark Abrahams of the Land Park Com

From now on, Doug Koleada will be a law-abiding citizen when he rides his bicycle on the K Street Mall. The city of Sacramento has installed new signs on K Street that list rules for bike riding. Cycling can now commence legally on the Mall from Seventh to 13th Streets and in the tunnel between Second and Fourth Streets. Koleada was riding his bike near the Westfield Downtown Plaza Wednesday afternoon. He readily admitted to biking on K Street in the evenings; his nighttime rides will now be perfectly legal. The Pyramid Alehouse Brewery employee said he knew about the city’s former ban on bicycling on K Street Mall, so he didn’t bike there when police officers were in sight. Koleada al

Monday, Sept. 21 Noon - 1 p.m. Sacramento Area Coalition Against the Death Penalty will be holding a rally against the death penalty. About 15 people are expected to participate in the rally on the north steps of the Capitol. Tuesday, Sept. 22 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The city's Department of Transportation will be holding a department picnic on the lawn of the Capitol. About 60 people will be participating.

Five Sacramento streets will be resurfaced with money provided by the federal economic stimulus package, according to a press release from the Department of Transportation. The streets to receive the overlays will be: Truxel Road, from Del Paso Road to Gateway Park Boulevard Arena Boulevard, from East Commerce Way to Gateway Park Boulevard Arden Way, from Del Paso Boulevard to Evergreen Street Florin Road, from 24th Street to Franklin Boulevard Calvine Road, from Franklin Boulevard to Bruceville Road Bids for the project, which is expected to cost $8.1 million, will be posted in late May. Work is anticipated to start in late June. Additionally, the following streets will also be

Joe Benassini, the Manager of Urban Forestry Services for the City of Sacramento, responded to citizens concerned about the tree on 16th street coming down with this public email: All; The tree in question was removed as a part of the improved streetscape adjacent to the Hot Italian restaurant. The tree had a major limb failure and had other structural problems that might not have been apparent to a passer by. The City Arborist made the call to remove and replace the tree and include an irrigation system in an effort to improve the canopy cover, not to lessen it. The cost of removal and replacement was borne by the applicant, not the city. The fact that the tree was not posted was an ove