Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) =

Ridge Road traffic drives toward an = intersection=20 with New York Ranch Road, which has been the location of eight = collisions=20 since January.

Photo by: Bethany=20 Monk
The Amador County Board of Supervisors = unanimously approved six high-risk rural road program applications = requesting=20 funding for several road improvement projects, including a traffic = signal=20 installation at the New York Ranch Road and Ridge Road intersection in=20 Jackson.

Marty Price, deputy director of Amador County Public = Works,=20 addressed the board at its weekly meeting Tuesday regarding the = applications,=20 and specifically mentioned the need for change at the New York Ranch = Road and=20 Ridge Road intersection where eight collisions have occurred since = January of=20 this year.

"No one said they couldn't see the cars down the = hill," Price=20 said of reports from those who were in the collisions. "There was = nothing=20 obstructing their view. There was no design issue." He said the problems = stemmed=20 from "people not paying attention." The installation of a traffic signal = at the=20 intersection won't stop collisions from happening, but it may help = reduce the=20 amount, he added.

The proposed project includes the installation = of a=20 traffic signal and the construction of left turn and merge lanes near = the=20 intersection, according to a copy of the application. The project would = also add=20 an additional left turn lane on New York Ranch Road and would lengthen = the=20 existing traffic lanes west of the intersection on Ridge Road. These = traffic=20 lanes would be extended 300 feet in order to provide additional = acceleration and=20 traffic merging length.

In 2006, the Jackson Rancheria and Casino = constructed a gateway access onto State Route 88 to help decrease the = amount of=20 traffic at the intersection, according to the application; the majority = of=20 casino traffic, however, continues to use the New York Ranch Road and = Ridge Road=20 intersection. Even after further improvements to the intersection in = 2007, "a=20 high rate of right-of-way violation accidents continue to occur with 31=20 accidents in three years," the report further states.

Amador = County=20 District 4 Supervisor Louis Boitano said he believes the real problem at = the=20 intersection is the rate of speed cars travel on the respective roads. = The=20 rumor, he said, is that the California Highway Patrol of Amador County = is going=20 to talk to Senator David Cox about lowering the speed, which is = currently 45=20 miles per hour.

"Speed is a very subjective term," said John = Hardy, a CHP=20 officer for Amador County. Certain situations might merit slowing down = on New=20 York Ranch and Ridge roads, but he doesn't think that officially = lowering the=20 speed limit is a good idea. The collisions on those roads, he said, = usually=20 result from people "taking their eyes off the road" and not paying = attention.=20 Sometimes people will drift into the other traffic lane and overcorrect, = which=20 can cause a collision.

"The number one cause of injury and damage = (in=20 Amador County) is people leaving the roadways," he said, noting of the = county's=20 rural nature and things like "dirt and ledges" that line the roads. =

Two=20 members of the community accused the board of not seeking public input = on the=20 matter.

Al Reis, who lives on Ridge Road, asked board members, = during the=20 public comments session, if the county deceived the community into = thinking a=20 study was done regarding the proposed changes to the = intersection.

"There=20 is no study for the signal," David Evitt of Sutter Creek, told the = board. In an=20 interview after the meeting he said the board isn't doing "due diligence = in=20 studying the causes" of collisions on the roads. Evitt said he lived on = Ridge=20 Road from 1949 to 1988, and said the intersection needs a gourd and = other=20 changes to help prevent collisions.

"We have the ability today = not to=20 move forward," District 2 Supervisor and board chair Richard M. Forster = said in=20 response to Evitt's request for further study. "(But) we've gone around = and=20 around on this issue and accidents still happen."

The = intersection of New=20 York Ranch Road and Ridge road is four-and-a-half miles northeast of = Jackson and=20 4.35 miles east of the intersection of State Routes 49 and 104 in Sutter = Creek.

There have been no fatalities at the intersection since = 1998,=20 Hardy said; there have been five fatalities on Ridge Road - three near = Ridge=20 View and two elsewhere - since 1998.

All six applications, = proposed by=20 the county's Public Work Department for the California Department of=20 Transportation in Stockton, are also requesting the relocation of the = State=20 Route 88/Climax Road intersection and realignment of the existing Climax = Road,=20 an additional third lane to Ridge Road in the vicinity of Running Gold = Road,=20 installation of left turn lanes on Ridge Road at its intersection with = Old Ridge=20 Road, construction of a lengthened acceleration/merge lane on Ridge Road = west of=20 Old Ridge Road, and the construction of 10 widened shoulders and = turnouts on=20 various county roads within Amador County.

Bethany = Monk