Sacramento city council plans to add new bicycle lanes to a busy stretch of Freeport Blvd when it begins resurfacing work on the road in 2013. The affected portion of Freeport, which runs past McClatchy High School and Sacramento City College, does not currently have dedicated cycle lanes.
The Department of Transportation intends to create adequate roadway access for cyclists between Sutterville Road and Vallejo Way, where Freeport meets 21st Street at the light rail station. This stretch of road is busy with pedestrians and cyclists despite heavy all-day traffic between the downtown area at Broadway to the north, and the residential areas of Land Park to the south-west, and Curtis Park to the east.
The DOT expects to reduce on-street parking in the area and introduce "a five-foot striped bike lane", which is uncommon in Sacramento. Development of the plan will depend upon which of two alternative options for the cycle lanes are adopted. The options differ in scale and budgetary requirements, but both will result in some disruption to traffic flow and a probable increase in traffic on adjacent streets.
If approved and funded, the work is expected to commence during the summer months of 2013, when McClatchy High School is not in session. Many students of the school commute on bicycles, and the proposals have been praised by the McClatchy High School administration.
Last year, the city approved plans for a new cycling bridge at Sutterville Road to enable cyclists to cross the railway tracks.
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