Ledger-Dispatch

By Kelly Enos (kenos@ledger-dispatch.com) =

Ruby Hand is worried a highway = improvement=20 project will take her out of the Kennedy Flat Road home she has = occupied=20 for roughly 50 years.

Photo by: Kelly Enos

Ruby Hand's home on Kennedy Flat Road = is on the=20 site of a project alternative to make improvements to a part of = Highway=20 49/88.

Photo by: Kelly=20 Enos
Ruby Hand has lived in her home on = Kennedy=20 Flat Road for more than 50 years. She is 78, disabled and not prepared = for the=20 proposed improvements she believes will drastically change her way of = life - and=20 could ultimately cost her her home.

The Amador County = Transportation=20 Commission is in the midst of a plan to improve the sight distance at = the=20 intersection of Argonaut Lane and Highway 49/88 in Jackson. To achieve = this, the=20 intersection would be relocated to the west and a traffic signal would = be=20 installed at Argonaut Lane. The current Caltrans Project Study Report = proposes=20 two travel lanes being added to the eastbound side of Highway 49/88 = heading into=20 Jackson and widening the shoulders to eight feet. The project, which is = a=20 "speculation" phase, is being headed up by Stantec Consulting Inc., = whose=20 representative, John Klemunes, has introduced three conceptual design=20 alternatives.

Each alternative was put together with input from = members=20 of the project development team: ACTC, the city of Jackson, Amador = County and=20 the California Department of Transportation.

"This is a priority=20 project," said Charles Field, executive director of the transportation=20 commission.

The dilemma is that Caltrans and the development team = overwhelmingly favor the third alternative, which calls for the razing = of Hand's=20 home on the southwest corner of Kennedy Flat Road and Argonaut Lane. = Though she=20 has been offered fair market value for the home, Hand's daughter, Susan = Taylor,=20 is worried it won't be enough to replace what she's losing in the = current real=20 estate market.

"It's just my home. No one else is affected," Hand = told=20 the Ledger Dispatch.

"My place is all I have and they want to = take it,"=20 she added. "It's in a good location and close to my doctor, shopping and = everything."

If Hand chooses not to sell, she and her daughter = are=20 worried about the prospect of eminent domain, under which a local = government=20 agency can claim the property anyway. "We were told that if they decide = they=20 want the property, there is nothing much we can do," Taylor = said.

Field=20 tried to assuage those fears. "We're not there yet," he said. "We're = just trying=20 now to get approvals."

He added that since the third alternative = is still=20 the preferred one, the commission would offer a fair market price for = the home=20 if eminent domain ultimately has to be considered. "The law requires = just=20 compensation and that needs to be done carefully," he said. There are = also state=20 and federal relocation assistance programs that would be available, = Field added,=20 though he did admit, "This is the worst part of my job."

The cost = of the=20 third alternative would run between $5 million and $10 million by the = time=20 construction is completed, according to Field, and has been suggested as = a part=20 of a Jackson bypass project estimated at $100 million to=20 complete.

Jackson City Manager Mike Daly said the city has = participated=20 on the project development team. "Clearly, the most sensitive aspect of = this=20 project is the Hand residence," he said. "Alternatives are being studied = to=20 determine if the house can be avoided or possibly even moved," Daly = added,=20 though that may not be feasible for a variety of reasons.

While = several=20 staff-level meetings have taken place, there has been only one public = hearing so=20 far, last December. That hearing was to be the first of many in the = project=20 development process that still requires Caltrans' stamp of approval = before=20 continuing. Field said he was sorry the project could impact an existing = home,=20 but that safety concerns have pressed the commission into seeking a = viable=20 project. Still, it could take two to five years to construct, if it = happens at=20 all.

"Safety is the main concern here and, at this point, it = depends on=20 Caltrans," Field explained. "If they say no project, then there will be = no=20 project."

But for Hand, it already feels like the beginning of = the end.=20 "This is a lot of stress and worry, and it's not healthy for me," she = said. "If=20 they are looking for places to spend money, there are other places that = need=20 help instead of taking someone's only possession. It's not fair."

Kelly = Enos