The city of Ione and the Amador County Transportation Commission are hosting a community workshop Thursday at Ione Junior High School to discuss potential traffic projects.

The Western Ione Roadway Improvement Strategy, also known as the Ione bypass, provides an alternative route to highways 104 and 124 through historic downtown Ione. This planning process is designed to advance - rather than revisit - the substantial amount of work that has been previously completed, and upon which adopted city, county and regional plans are dependent.

The community workshop is the latest in a series of public meetings designed to provide opportunities for stakeholders and interested parties to provide input throughout the planning and preliminary engineering work.

The community workshop will be used to seek input on the following topics:

- Have all the possible alignment alternatives been identified?

- Are the criteria proposed to evaluate the alternatives comprehensive and correct?

- Which alternative(s) do community members and stakeholders prefer?

- What features, such as bicycle lanes, should be included in the project?

"Our objective is to continue our close working relationship with the community," said city planner Christopher Jordan. "That includes giving voice to the visions of our residents and stakeholders."

For more than 20 years, local, regional and statewide plans have studied the need for a new transportation route in or near Ione. Each iteration of work resulted in greater detail and specifics about the alignment. This prior work resulted in several conclusions and actions. Another route is needed as an alternative to the existing highway 104 and 124 alignments through downtown Ione, but Widening the existing state routes is infeasible because of significant impacts to historic buildings and other land uses.

A study was given to several possible bypasses and connectors around the city. Three bypass alternatives were analyzed as part of the 1996-97 Regional Transportation Plan process and discussed during workshops and public hearings, while the Revised Draft 1998 Ione Circulation Element was being prepared.

The city identified the interim west bypass as the preferred route due primarily to cost, feasibility and environmental factors. The most feasible route is along the western and southern sides of Ione, consisting of two segments: a north-south segment on the west side of the city and an east-west segment on the south side of Ione. The north-south segment consists of a combination of new roadway on a new alignment, and improvements to existing roadways on approximately the existing alignment. The east-west roadway consists of a new roadway.

Conceptual alignments for both the north-south and east-west segments were identified and program level environmental approvals under the California Environmental Quality Act were obtained as part of the Ione General Plan Circulation Element and transportation commission Regional Transportation Plan.

"Planning this new roadway now is critical," said ACTC executive director Charles Field. "Transportation funding over the next 50 years is very, very limited. Communities throughout Amador County are planning future improvements to ensure that the regional funding share for each project is factored into long-range financial plans."

The meeting will be Thursday, 6:30 p.m. at Ione Junior High School, 450 S. Mill St., with an open house at 6 p.m. Copies of reports identifying the evaluation criteria and alternative roadway alignments are available on the city's Web site at http://ione-ca.com/. For more information, contact Jordan at 274-2412, ext. 104 or ctyplan@ione.ca.com.