The Folsom Lake Crossing and East Natoma Street traffic safety enhancement project has been successfully completed. This project is part of the city's ongoing effort to improve safety, reduce accidents, and increase mobility in key corridors.

Metal beam median barriers were installed in three key locations:

• Folsom Lake Crossing between the auxiliary spillway and the Johnny Cash Bridge, spanning 1,625 feet.
• East Natoma Street, stretching from Folsom Lake Crossing to Gionata Way, covering 520 feet.
• Folsom Auburn Road between Folsom Dam Road and Pinebrook Drive, a distance of 840 feet.

These barriers were placed based on the findings of the city's Local Road Safety Plan. The project's scope also included: 

• Application of a rubberized friction surface treatment to enhance road safety.
• Radar speed feedback signs.
• Updated pavement markers and signage.

The Public Works Department is seeking additional federal funding to extend the median barrier throughout Folsom Lake Crossing. For more information about the project, contact Senior Civil Engineer Ryan Chance at 916-461-6713 or rchance@folsom.ca.us

The City of Folsom is one of five jurisdictions represented in the Capital SouthEast Connector Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that is tasked with construction of a the 34-mile expressway and parallel bicycle/pedestrian trail south of Highway 50 that will connect Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, and El Dorado Hills.

The Connector will enable people and commerce to bypass downtown Sacramento and Highway 50 congestion, provide better access to job centers, dramatically improve vehicular and pedestrian safety, enable more efficient goods movement, provide an all-weather flood evacuation route, and enable more efficient farm-to-fork agricultural commerce.

The project’s first phase includes construction of four continuous lanes from Interstate 5 in Elk Grove to the new Silva Valley Parkway interchange at Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills, expanded at-grade intersections at all major access points, and a continuous path for pedestrians, bicyclists, and equestrians.

Construction of the Connector expressway is expected to generate 5,400 jobs and $310 million in new labor income, $831 million in new regional economic output and more than $23 million in new indirect business tax revenue. Over 20 years, the Connector is expected to create more than 25,000 total new direct and indirect jobs, and generate $2.5 billion in new economic output and $182 million in new indirect business tax revenue.

• Connector in Folsom: The Connector alignment in Folsom is along White Rock Road, connecting on the west to a two-mile already improved section between Prairie City Road and Grant Line Road and on the east to the Sacramento County line. The Connector JPA estimates that it will cost approximately $40 million to convert the 5.5-mile segment of White Rock Road between Prairie City Road and the county line to a four-lane expressway. Funding for the project will come from the Sacramento County Measure A transportation sales-tax program and a combination of state funds and local development fees. Final design of that segment is currently underway and construction could begin in 2018 if required funding is secured.
• Capital SouthEast Connector website

The City is applying for state Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding for the construction of non-motorized infrastructure to improve the overall connectivity of the Folsom Historic District. This is a Safe Routes to School project that would be focused around the areas of Sutter Middle School and Theodore Judah Elementary School. The project would construct pedestrian improvements and bicycle facilities on Riley Street between Sutter Street and Bidwell Street and on Dean Way between Coloma Street and Stafford Street.

The City is seeking the community's feedback. We invite residents to take a quick online survey no later than June 3rd, 2022. The survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts on how comfortable you are walking and biking in the area, drop map markers to specifically identify areas of concern, and provide general comments.

The city will be hosting a project open house to discuss the project with all who are interested. Please join us at anytime during the open house to meet with the project team and ask question, view preliminary project graphics, and give feedback. Children are welcome to attend and light refreshments will be available. 

Project Open House

4 - 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 18
Folsom Community Center
52 Natoma Street

The Empire Ranch Road interchange is a future freeway interchange that will be located on U.S. Highway 50 on the Sacramento County/El Dorado County line, between the existing East Bidwell Street interchange in Folsom and Latrobe Road interchange in El Dorado Hills.

The interchange will include a four- or six-lane overpass, full ramp connections to westbound and eastbound Highway 50, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and traffic signal controls. The project will connect with the existing Empire Ranch Road/Iron Point Road intersection to the north, and the future extension of Empire Ranch Road to the south.

The project was initially studied in 2006, but was postponed. In July 2017, the city reinitiated the project approval and environmental documentation (PA&ED) phase of the project, which is a required step before beginning design and initiating construction. The Draft Project Approval (PA) was completed in February 2022. Upon Caltrans approval of the PA, the environmental document will be circulated for public comment. The latest design has incorporated infrastructure and development components of the Folsom Ranch project, south of Highway 50.

Once the updated PA&ED documents are approved by Caltrans, the city intends to initiate construction by 2025, dependent on funding. Funding for the project is a combination of developer impact fees, local sales tax and gas tax. Additional funding may be needed, possibly through state and/or federal grant programs.

Current Project Documents

• Project Study Report, July 2006
• Draft Environmental Impact Report
• Final Environmental Impact Report

City of Folsom is the non-federal sponsor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' project of a new, 1,000-foot bridge over the American River just below the Folsom Dam. The four-lane, approximately two-mile-long project includes bicycle and pedestrian paths, as well. Connector roads join the bridge with East Natoma Street to the southeast and Folsom-Auburn Road to the northwest. The bridge opened for traffic on March 28, 2009.

Rainbow Bridge is nearly 100-year-old bridge that spans the American River at Greenback Lane. The historic bridge provides a major connection for businesses and residents on both sides of the river. An upcoming preventative maintenance project will make needed repairs to the bridge and will provide a smoother and safer drive for motorists.

This project applied a Type II Slurry Seal and updated striping to the following roadways:

• Iron Point Road between McAdoo Drive and East Bidwell Street
• Broadstone Parkway between Iron Point Road and East Bidwell Street
• Oak Avenue Parkway between American River Canyon Drive and Baldwin Dam Road

A slurry seal is the application of a mixture of water, asphalt emulsion, aggregate (very small crushed rock), and additives to an existing asphalt pavement surface. This combined mixture of the emulsion and aggregates represents “slurry.” Polymer is commonly added to the asphalt emulsion to provide better mixture properties. The placement of this mixture on existing pavement is the “seal” as it is intended to seal the pavement surface. Slurry seal is applied in order to help preserve and protect the underlying pavement structure and provide a new driving surface. Roads chosen for slurry seal applications generally have low to moderate distress and narrow crack width. Slurry seal applications serve to seal the cracks, restore lost flexibility to the pavement surface, provide a deep, rich black pavement surface color, and help preserve the underlying pavement structure.

This project rehabilitated and resurfaced the existing pavement on Blue Ravine Road between Prairie City Road and East Bidwell Street. Due to the severe extent of pavement distress on this roadway, engineers determined that the most cost effective and thorough rehabilitation treatment would be to utilize Cold In Place Recycling (CIR) which consists of cold milling the existing asphalt in place, injecting asphalt emulsion and cement into the grindings and immediately placing and compacting the rejuvenated mix. CIR reduces the trucking involved in pavement rehabilitation, resulting in a lowered environmental impact. Once the CIR process is complete, a 2” thick layer of Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt was applied to the entire roadway, utility access points adjusted to grade and updated striping was installed. This project also updated handicapped curb ramps and installed a fiber optic interconnect conduit for increased traffic signal efficiency and monitoring. 

This project will rehabilitate and resurface the existing pavement on Blue Ravine Road between School Street and Oak Avenue Parkway. The project will include localized asphalt repairs, a Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt overlay, reconfigured crosswalks at Folsom Middle School and updated striping. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2024 and should take approximately 1 month. 

American River Canyon Drive Surface Drainage Project

City staff and residents began observing water seeping out of the asphalt on American River Canyon Drive just north of Oak Avenue in the fall of 2021. Staff from the Public Works Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and San Juan Water District collectively began investigating to determine the source of the water, including the following efforts:

1. Parks and Recreation Department staff turned off irrigation within the American River Canyon North service area from October 2021 to February 2022. No apparent change in the water coming through the asphalt at the American River Canyon North and Oak Avenue intersection was identified.
2. The waterfall feature at the top of American River Canyon Drive was off and tanks drained from the Fall of 2021 through Spring 2023. 
3. San Juan Water District (SJWD) shut off the meter to the irrigation service area at the intersection of Broken Top Court for a week in January 2022 due to the possibility of water passing the meter being undetected. SJWD staff spent the week investigating and listening to meters in the area and found no apparent leaks.
4. City Water Division staff and SJWD staff separately tested water in the street for residual chlorine and found none.
5. SJWD staff performed extensive leak detection on their waterlines throughout the area in early 2022, including hiring an outside leak detection company. Two service line leaks were identified and repaired above the waterfall area, but no apparent change in the water seeping through the asphalt at the American Canyon North and Oak Avenue intersection was identified.
6. The Public Works Department hired Geocon Consultants in September 2022 to collect and analyze the water and provide the city with an assessment memo. The results of the analysis indicate that the source appears to be from perched groundwater, and recommended next steps include hydrogeologic surveys and groundwater monitoring to assist in developing an appropriate system to capture the groundwater before allowing it to seep up through the asphalt. Geocon Report
7. The Public Works Department hired R.E.Y. Engineers in June 2023 to perform additional subsurface investigations and develop plans and specifications as part of a construction project to mitigate the ongoing flows.

The project is expected to begin construction in the Spring of 2024.  For more information, contact the Public Works Department at pwdept@folsom.ca.us or at 916-461-6712.