262 replies to this topic

[Fig]

You've GOT to be kidding. Who "showers" anyone with compliments about a bridge name? The only thing a bridge name will get you is a showering of complaints when it's stupid.

Is he sure that it's compliments he was showered with and not complaints? I'm detecting a lingering language barrier in his email ("Except for a handful of few").

It sounds like the poor man might just be confused.

Ah well. Maybe we should just switch gears and make Folsom the home of the Stupid Public Road, Bridge and Tunnel Names Association. We can't be the only ones. Heck, we're going to be overqualified. Not only are we going to have Folsom Lake Crossing, we've got two Oak Avenue Parkways that have no realistic hope of ever connecting.

That is, unless we build yet another bridge (God help us...).

Oak Av Pkwy was the original bridge prior to Lake Natoma Crossing. The two Oaks were to connect each other plus Hwy 50. Lawyers representing some concerned citizens from American River Canyon were worried about increased traffic flow near their peaceful neighborhood. The bridge and Hwy 50 exit were stopped to avoid a costly litigation nightmare. This is information I gathered from Miklos.

[Fig]

You've GOT to be kidding. Who "showers" anyone with compliments about a bridge name? The only thing a bridge name will get you is a showering of complaints when it's stupid.

Is he sure that it's compliments he was showered with and not complaints? I'm detecting a lingering language barrier in his email ("Except for a handful of few").

It sounds like the poor man might just be confused.

Ah well. Maybe we should just switch gears and make Folsom the home of the Stupid Public Road, Bridge and Tunnel Names Association. We can't be the only ones. Heck, we're going to be overqualified. Not only are we going to have Folsom Lake Crossing, we've got two Oak Avenue Parkways that have no realistic hope of ever connecting.

That is, unless we build yet another bridge (God help us...).

You forgot to input that Lake Natoma Crossing does not cross the official boundary of Lake Natoma (see maps by BLM, USGS, Thomas, and WRT). We may consider that part of the waterway as Lake Natoma, but it is not.

My research wasn't initially for Lake Natoma, but to prove the new bridge does not cross Folsom Lake's boundaries. Unfortunately, Folsom Lake Crossing does cross the Folsom Lake Boundaries. Seems Folsom Lake has "spillage pools" on that side of the dam which is still considered part of Folsom Lake. Even though the pools look like dry granite, it is part of the Folsom Lake engineering (remember Folsom Lake is man-made with man-made boundaries). Plus it will be the only way for motorists to cross Folsom Lake. My research proved one bridge name incorrect, and one bridge correct. Not the outcome I was looking to prove. Or the outcome this forum wishes to hear.

I still side with Johnny Cash something, started a petition, but have found more favor for the city council's decision (or don't want to voice an opinion) than support for Johnny Cash. Is this a losing battle? Maybe. Without an official memorial to Cash, in two years people will be calling this the Dam Bridge anyway.

[ducky]

Oak Av Pkwy was the original bridge prior to Lake Natoma Crossing. The two Oaks were to connect each other plus Hwy 50. Lawyers representing some concerned citizens from American River Canyon were worried about increased traffic flow near their peaceful neighborhood. The bridge and Hwy 50 exit were stopped to avoid a costly litigation nightmare. This is information I gathered from Miklos.

Really? Some concerned citizens, huh. Like, perhaps NIMBYs that didn't want it going through their back yard. Like you said, the two Oak Avenues were always meant to be connected. I guess Miklos left out why some residents who were around then called Lake Natoma Crossing the Bob Holderness Beltway - and still do.

[Dave Burrell]

Really? Some concerned citizens, huh. Like, perhaps NIMBYs that didn't want it going through their back yard. Like you said, the two Oak Avenues were always meant to be connected. I guess Miklos left out why some residents who were around then called Lake Natoma Crossing the Bob Holderness Beltway - and still do.

hmmm, lawyers hired to represent ARC's NIMBY's at the time..

by any sure coincidence does he happen to live there? and I take it Bob lives there too?

[ducky]

hmmm, lawyers hired to represent ARC's NIMBY's at the time..

by any sure coincidence does he happen to live there? and I take it Bob lives there too?

Mr. Holderness is a lawyer and by mere coincidence lived near there at the time. I have no idea where he lives now. As some of you may or may not know, he went on to be mayor of Folsom for a while. There's a monument at the end of the beltway with his name on it down by Karen's Bakery end.

[Bill Z]

Oak Av Pkwy was the original bridge prior to Lake Natoma Crossing. The two Oaks were to connect each other plus Hwy 50. Lawyers representing some concerned citizens from American River Canyon were worried about increased traffic flow near their peaceful neighborhood. The bridge and Hwy 50 exit were stopped to avoid a costly litigation nightmare. This is information I gathered from Miklos.

I think it was more than just ARC NIMBY's that shot it down. I think there was a big influence from the houses with backyards up against the high power line easement from the existing dead end of Oak Ave Pkwy at Willow Creek Drive and the meandering path to over between the Prison & the Police Department. I think some of the blame was put also on the prison not wanting to sell some of their land, but personally, I think that is a bunch of whooey as the land that would have been used is as far away from the actual prisons as possible, so it wasn't anywhere near being a potential security risk.

[4thgenFolsomite]

I think it was more than just ARC NIMBY's that shot it down. I think there was a big influence from the houses with backyards up against the high power line easement from the existing dead end of Oak Ave Pkwy at Willow Creek Drive and the meandering path to over between the Prison & the Police Department. I think some of the blame was put also on the prison not wanting to sell some of their land, but personally, I think that is a bunch of whooey as the land that would have been used is as far away from the actual prisons as possible, so it wasn't anywhere near being a potential security risk.

As I recall, some of the residents living along the projected Oak Avenue to Oak Avenue Parkway connection route on the south side of Natoma Street were the big complainers and one of them had some connections with people at the prison, so they used that as leverage. It would have been the most logical route. Hey, maybe we can call it the Johnny Cash Parkway...

[Robert Giacometti]

Really? Some concerned citizens, huh. Like, perhaps NIMBYs that didn't want it going through their back yard. Like you said, the two Oak Avenues were always meant to be connected. I guess Miklos left out why some residents who were around then called Lake Natoma Crossing the Bob Holderness Beltway - and still do.

The master planned always called for Oak Avenue to be connected by a bridge crossing. ( This is why the fire stations were originally built off Oak). I believe it was 1994, there were 2 choices for on the ballot for the citizens to decide where to build the next bridge. One was the current Lake Natoma Bridge and one was the Oak Ave site. Bob Holderness was Mayor at the time and was the leader in pushing for the Lake Natoma crossing.

Bob H. recognized that the region & Folsom was going to grow substantially and that the bridge was really needed to solve traffic for the region rather than just crosstown traffic. Historic Folsom was gridlocked and was going to get worse if we didn't build the Lake Natoma Crossing. The voters overwhelmingly voted for Lake Natoma and after completion, traffic in Historic Folsom was greatly reduced!

Bob Holderness was 100% correct in his reasoning. Many of you may NOT know this but Bob Holderness authored a "Slow Growth " initiative back in 1989, that was defeated by the citizens Bob realized that growth was going to occur and then set out to make sure infrastructure was in place to accomodate the growth. Some people have unfairly criticiszed him for being a slow growth Democrat for supporting infrastructure, when in fact he was ensuring our quality of life.

Bob probably was one of our most visonary Mayors and deserves many thanks for recognizing what needed to be done correctly rather than playing political games with what he wanted.

[4thgenFolsomite]

The voters overwhelmingly voted for Lake Natoma and after completion, traffic in Historic Folsom was greatly reduced!

don't get me started on this.

by the way, we used folsom taxpayers' $$ to solve a REGIONAL problem, rather than use that our money to solve our own problem. even the city's own traffic consultants said it would have been preferrable to build the first bridge at oak avenue.

and traffic in the historic district is worse than ever because of the location of the lake natoma crossing. the only benefit was to commuters in placer county and north of the river wanting to connect to hwy. 50 and Sacramento. you can see that by the level of traffic during the am/pm commute on the bridge. the rest of the time, all those folks trying to get from EDH to Roseville, etc., now come into the heart of Folsom rather than avoid the city on what would have been the oak avenue bridge. after the closure of the dam crossing, the situation became absolutely intolerable on Sutter Street, leading to the traffic we have there today.

like i said, don't get me started on this.

[Orangetj]

in two years people will be calling this the Dam Bridge anyway.

Correct. I would say that even if it does end up being called the "Johnny Cash Bridge", most folks will still call it the dam bridge. IMO, without taking the "tourist attraction" theory into account, "Folsom Dam Bypass" would have made the most sense to me. I care not, though, as I'm just going to call it the dam bridge.

[camay2327]

By the way Jeff Starsky said that he was running again for city council during the upcoming election. I didn't hear if Steve Miklos was going to run again, but would think that he will be.

[ChipShot]

By the way Jeff Starsky said that he was running again for city council during the upcoming election. I didn't hear if Steve Miklos was going to run again, but would think that he will be.

I'd venture to guess they'll win, as I don't think the vast majority of people give a horse's patoot about all this bridge stuff.....IMHO..

Yes, I could be wrong. It happens often.

[ducky]

I'd venture to guess they'll win, as I don't think the vast majority of people give a horse's patoot about all this bridge stuff.....IMHO..

Yes, I could be wrong. It happens often.

No, you're probably right this time.

Now, buy mylo his stinkin' beer, will ya.

[mylo]

Now, buy mylo his stinkin' beer, will ya.

No !@#$. I just popped into Manderes and played their 50% off Happy Hour coin flip! I wasn't alone, 14 people won in a row!

[Robert Giacometti]

don't get me started on this.

by the way, we used folsom taxpayers' $$ to solve a REGIONAL problem, rather than use that our money to solve our own problem. even the city's own traffic consultants said it would have been preferrable to build the first bridge at oak avenue.

and traffic in the historic district is worse than ever because of the location of the lake natoma crossing. the only benefit was to commuters in placer county and north of the river wanting to connect to hwy. 50 and Sacramento. you can see that by the level of traffic during the am/pm commute on the bridge. the rest of the time, all those folks trying to get from EDH to Roseville, etc., now come into the heart of Folsom rather than avoid the city on what would have been the oak avenue bridge. after the closure of the dam crossing, the situation became absolutely intolerable on Sutter Street, leading to the traffic we have there today.

like i said, don't get me started on this.

I can't resist!

You do realize that Folsom's population has increased by about 2 1/2 the size it was back from 1994 and Granite Bay, Roseville and EDH have all increased substantially as well?

Can you just imagine all that traffic trying to cross Rainbow Bridge and up Riley through Old Town if the new Lake Natoma Bridge wasn't built? Traffic would be far worse than what you have today. When the Dam Bridge opens, traffic will really be reduced on Natomas and through Old town.

I'll confess and admit I was a supporter of the Oak Ave Bridge during the campaign, but they really did build the right crossing.