KCRA 3's Orko Manna

(PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA) Sept 3, 2022 — The stoplights along Highway 50 going through Placerville are staying green this weekend as part of a new program.

El Dorado County’s “Trip to Green” pilot program is meant to look at if keeping the lights green from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on certain weekends helps reduce traffic congestion on Highway 50.

This Labor Day weekend is the second of three weekends when this is being tested. In addition to the traffic lights staying green, north and south access at the Highway 50 intersections in downtown Placerville are also closed off.

 

Placerville, Calif. ,

Stoplights will remain green along Highway 50 passing through Placerville later this week as part of a new program.

El Dorado County’s “Trip to Green” pilot program is to see whether keeping the lights green from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on certain weekends helps reduce traffic congestion on Highway 50. This Labor Day weekend is the second of three weekends when it is being tested. In addition to the traffic lights that remain green, north and south access is also closed at the Highway 50 intersection in downtown Placerville.

According to the El Dorado County website, the pilot program is taking place over three weekends because “any single weekend can have many variables that can affect daily traffic flow during the busy season. For local or regional events, a traffic accident can occur.” Considerations such as why freeway closures, or perhaps early snowfall in Tahoe, could affect traffic flow over the weekend. Including three weekends in the study helped smooth out those variables to make the data more useful and complete. meets.”

While many see this as an advantage for those traveling to Apple Hill or Tahoe, Placerville residents and businesses told KCRA3 that they aren’t too thrilled with how the project is impacting them. , including creating more traffic headaches for locals. City shops and restaurants.

“I’m disappointed,” said Placerville resident Dave Wells. “We locals are having a hard time because we have to make 15 minutes, 10 minutes of detours trying to get to the other side of the freeway.”

Some businesses said their bottom line was being affected. Isabella Conard with Placerville Coffee Depot told KCRA3 that Saturday had fewer customers than usual.

“We have been very slow today,” Conard said. ,[Customers] It takes a full detour to get around, and then they have to go through traffic too [that’s] Trying to go and go to the restaurant.”

Some of those restaurants, such as KFC, are already seeing a drop in sales. Employee Lisa Barker told KCRA3 that the traffic signal project with intersections closed is slowing business significantly – and she said they are not alone.

“There are other businesses on Main Street that are losing business as well, and that’s really inconvenient,” Barker said. “I don’t understand its purpose. I don’t see how it’s helping.”

But El Dorado County officials say this potentially new system will ultimately benefit everyone. According to the “Trip to Green” webpage, the project will “put through traffic on US 50 and free up space to make it easier for commuters and locals who want to stop, and enjoy downtown businesses.”

Some businesses said it was too early to tell what kind of impact the project would actually have, but they wanted to decide what would happen next.

“I think there should be a collective conversation with all the different businesses before making any decisions,” said Heyday Cafe owner Ben Carter.

Traffic signal changes and intersection closures from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. continue through Labor Day, which is Monday, September 5. Again, this is the second of three pilot program weekends for the “Trip to Green” project.