New Times Scheduled for Natomas Area I-80 Ramp Meters

BY THE NATOMAS BUZZ STAFF
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

The times for six existing Natomas area ramp meters on Interstate 80 will be changed, Caltrans District 3 announced today.

A total of 16 meters on I-80 are tentatively scheduled to be changed on Nov. 2 in an effort to relieve congestion and make merging safer for motorists, according to a press release issued by Caltrans.

The following sixteen ramp meters on westbound I-80 will be updated with traffic demand mode:

• Westbound Reed Avenue
• Eastbound Reed Avenue
• West El Camino Avenue (slip)
• West El Camino Avenue (loop)
• Truxel Road (slip)
• Truxel Rod (loop)
• Northgate Boulevard (slip)
• Northgate Boulevard (loop)
• Norwood Avenue
• Raley Boulevard (slip)
• Raley Boulevard (loop)
• Winters Street
• Longview Drive
• Westbound Watt Avenue (slip)
• Westbound Watt Avenue (loop)
• SR-244

Metering hours will be based on traffic demand and will activate anytime minimum traffic thresholds are met, according to Caltrans. The ramp meters will be active every day including weekends and holidays.

To help alert the public of the changes, the meters were set to rest in green on Monday, Oct. 26.

The 16 meters will have expanded hours of operation, which will allow these signals to also manage non-commute congestion with on-demand metering, according to Caltrans. As a result, traffic metering will take place anytime during the daytime or nighttime hours when there is heavy traffic congestion on the freeway.

According to Caltrans, studies have found ramp meters are an effective way to reduce freeway congestion and collisions, improve travel time and make merging onto the freeway safer.

Caltrans District 3 encompasses 4,385 lane miles in 11 Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra counties.