PLACERVILLE . INFO

By Cathy Locke -- Bee Staff Writer

The Placerville City Council has reaffirmed a plan to replace multiple traffic signals with a roundabout on Placerville Drive as part of a project to improve Highway 50 access and traffic flow at the west end of town.

The council certified the environmental impact report for the Western Placerville interchanges project Tuesday and authorized staff members to prepare construction plans, specifications and cost estimates.

The project calls from improving the Placerville Drive-Forni Road interchange and creating a new interchange, with the addition of onramps and offramps, at Ray Lawyer Drive. Segments of Forni Road, Placerville Drive, Fair Lane and Ray Lawyer Drive also will be widened and improved, and a 150-stall park-and-ride lot is planned south of the freeway.

Approval of the environmental report represents a project milestone, but Councilwoman Marian Washburn stressed that the city still must secure construction funds.

"It's an act of faith that we've gone this far," she said.

Estimated cost for the interchanges project ranges from $35.3 million to $37 million, according to the environmental report. A federal highway bill approved by Congress this year contained $2.4 million that will help fund the planning phase.

The environmental study examined four alternative designs, and the council's preferred alternative continued to

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