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Citrus Heights secures $2M grant for San Juan Ave. improvements

A portion of San Juan Avenue between Madison Avenue and Spicer Lane is slated for improvements. // CH Sentinel

Updated Nov. 15, 10:26 a.m.–
Sentinel staff report– The City of Citrus Heights has secured $2 million in grant funds to aid with roadway improvements planned for a section of San Juan Avenue, but the funds may not go very far.

Regina Cave, operations manager with the City of Citrus Heights, said the grant money will go towards a planned improvement project that includes pavement rehabilitation on San Juan Avenue, from Madison Avenue to Chesline Drive and possibly further north. The project, known as the San Juan Avenue Rehabilitation and Complete Streets Improvements project, will also include curb and sidewalk repair, adding infill pedestrian paths, creating bike lanes, adding bus stop and ADA improvements, and installing new street lights near intersections with side streets.

Grant funds for the project were awarded by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), which provides transportation funding and planning for the six-county Sacramento region. SACOG has also pledged about $5.5 million to aid with the city’s $22 million plan to revitalize Auburn Boulevard.

Related: Citrus Heights moving forward with $22M plan to revitalize Auburn Blvd

The city is slated to receive grant funds for the San Juan Avenue project in fiscal years 2020-2022 for design and right of way services. The city’s construction funds are programmed for the following fiscal year, meaning construction won’t begin for several years.

Cave said the grant is focused on the portion of San Juan Avenue from Madison Avenue to Spicer Drive — about 2,200 feet — but she said “the funding for construction, including our matching dollars, may only take the project (construction) to Chesline.” That distance is about 1,400 feet.

She said the city will continue to “explore opportunities to get the improvements as far north up the San Juan corridor as possible.”

Cave said the total estimated cost for the project is $3.3 million.

Q&A: Why isn’t gas tax money going to repave major streets in Citrus Heights?

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