All three counties:Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado rejoiced at the opening of Folsom Lake Crossing today. There will be 20,000  less cars driving through downtown Folsom trying to get from Sacramento county to each of the other two. Kids young and old walked, bicycled, motorcycled and jogged across the new bridge. There was great BBQ and other vendors who managed to set up shop for the opening and of course the Human Chain of Gratitude was there filming those who participated.

The decrease in traffic will be especially appreciated by those living in the historic district. The various side streets that were closed off to cross traffic made travel through town difficult and when school lets out at Sutter Jr. High there should be a noticeable reduction of congestion. The timing couldn’t be better for the downtown merchants since Easter week starts the beginning of the various festivals and street fairs. The first this year is on April 19th and is the Antique Fair hosted by Sutter St. merchants.

Commuters can count on a reduction in travel time by about 10-15 minutes and longer for those traveling from Placer county to El dorado county. One thing to keep in mind will be watching your speed limit. Folsom police is cracking down on speeders and will be keeping a close eye on the new bridge for violators so keep that in mind.

To subscribe to my newsletter click on:

http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2571487

The band will play, the dignitaries will give their speeches and then the people will for one time only be able to walk along the new bridge in Folsom CA this Saturday, March 28th, and see the American River under their feet. There hasn’t been this much excitement in Folsom since the Natomas Crossing was finished in 1999.

There is a group of people forming the Human Chain of Gratitude on Saturday to encourage others to have an attitude of gratitude despite what this economy is doing.  I plan on riding my bike across the bridge and joining those grateful souls for a toast and enjoy this one time event.

Another event coming up is the community garage sale in Lembi Park this May 2nd. My office will pick up donated items to be sold with the proceeds going to the Folsom City Zoo. If you would like to donate any gently used items please email me or call my office at 916-984-8778

To subscribe to my newsletter click on:

http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2571487

Since the Dam road closed in 2003 the people of Folsom have had to endure over 18000 cars traveling through the downtown streets not to mention the impact  on the residents and small businesses in the historic district.  The sad truth is that although more people were detoured through that part of town there has not been an increase in business revenue simply because people are passing through.  

The declining economy notwithstanding it seems that some businesses have managed to survive and a few have thrived. Chicago Fire, my favorite pizza place, has expanded despite the lack of parking in the historic district and Scarlet’s next door seems especially busy on weekends. Does this mean that once the new bridge opens that we’ll see a reverse in downtown traffic or will it bring more people to that part of town knowing they won’t have to deal with the additional traffic? Inquiring minds want to know….

Riding my bike along the American River in Folsom CA, just past the entrance to Dam Rd., there is a makeshift lookout to gaze upon the new bridge under construction. This amazing feat of engineering reminds me of pictures of the dam being built but a whole lot more fun.

Speaking of pictures, the photographer who chronicled this and other building projects has a great website www.DigitalSky.us that shows a history of the bridge under construction. Todd does an awesome job and it shows in his work. He also has photos of the tower bridge, the capitol, Crocker Museum & others.  

The bridge is ready to open this spring 2009 and the cost overall is estimated at $132 million with Folsom paying about $32 million. There will be four lanes & a bike trail which makes for a perfect round trip bike ride from the historic district where you can rent bikes. The bike path is paved and also great for walking or jogging.

The other event coming up in Folsom is the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. For more information you can see my blog post of Nov. 9, 2008 which has all the links to register and explains the details.

Gold River is an appropriate name for this town along the Amerian River just south of Folsom. Home to the CSUS outdoor campus for water sports this microcosm of activity hosts lots of fun in a very small area. Lessons abound for sailing, rowing,  & scuba diving and you can’t beat the excitement of Capital Crew during competition.

Known for it’s structured environment (read Homeowners Assoc.) Gold River has many villages with a variety of home sizes available all within 5 min of the freeway and less than 30 min from Sacramento. Well manicured lawns and picture perfect parks offer lots of walking trails and bike paths close to the river and the Gold River  racket club with tennis (both indoor and out) and all the usual workout equipment.

Rancho Cordova is the adjacent community that Gold River seceded from but shares the same zip code and has a mixture of young families and retired military. This community began as an extension of Mather Air Field, which was decommissioned in the early 1990′s when the government decided to retire a number of Air Force bases in California. Aerojet is the primary generator of jobs and has been doing their part to take responsibility for the environmental cleanup due to some previous damage they caused the water table.

Peppered with small ranch style homes on either side of the freeway, the county is working on renovating shopping centers and community areas that have deteriorated as a result of people moving to the newer suburbs further down the freeway. Now is a great time to find starter homes that are older but well built and offer a great value for the dollar.

This is one of the last towns in the valley before you climb the foothills of the Sierra and offers the opportunity to purchase in Sacramento county at a reasonable price. Rancho Cordova just recently incorporated and is going through a growth period but seems to be doing well and hasn’t experienced any major shifts due to the change in government. There were a number of investor homes that are starting to be picked up by first time buyers which bodes well for the future.