In April of 2021 I posted a grand vision the City of
Sacramento has for the scenic Capitol Mall promenade west of the Capital up to the
Tower Bridge. The city presently wants to spend $500,000 from Sacramento Area
Council of Governments (SACOG) to move forward with the design. As reported by
KOVR 13, the estimated cost to develop this plan could be $16 million, but if
you have been paying attention to government spending (like many have) the real
cost could be closer to $20 million or more.
The proposed design would be to reconfigure the street to
host large festivals and small farmers markets without shutting down the
street. This would include removing 4 lanes of traffic and only have one in
each direction, the center median of grass gone, wider sidewalks and another
row of trees. I personally prefer grand
approach to Sacramento's Capitol Mall from the west this is a scenic promenade
with a two lanes of traffic and a wide center strip devoted to vegetation.
Today as we drive across the Tower Bridge, local residents as well as visitors
have a clear view of the Capitol. Like I said in the previous post, what
planners are doing is social engineering people to change driving habits. After
Capitol Mall has the number of lanes reduced, traffic will be worse, hoping
this congestion get you out of your car and take public transit instead.
Manipulating people, changing behavior. This is happening on many downtown
streets, often referred to as a road diet.
Your tax dollars at work as cities shut traffic lanes. On many streets
and roads, road diets don't leave adequate capacity for cars and trucks. That
pushes traffic onto other streets.