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December 16, 2023 54 mins

Buckle up for the next episode of the Elk Grove Citycast as we talk about all things traffic with Elk Grove Traffic Engineer James Ashby and Traffic Enforcement Unit Sergeant Jason Kearsing. Our guests unveil the behind-the-scenes strategies employed to keep the city's roads flowing smoothly and safely. Discover the innovative technologies, creative solutions, and community-driven initiatives driving change in Elk Grove's traffic landscape. Hosts John and Kristyn also recap Elk Grove’s holiday events and provide a preview of some of the hot topics expected in 2024.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:01):
Welcome to Elk Grove Citycast, the podcast about Elk

John Hull (00:16):
Hi, everyone, I'm John Hull. Welcome to the Elk

Kristyn Laurence (00:32):
Hello, John.

John Hull (00:34):
Well, you know, we've had a lot of activities around

Kristyn Laurence (00:55):
Yeah, Elk Grove has a ton of holiday
see Santa rescued off of top ofthe old town building and

(01:35):
We had nearly 40 entries in thatand a ton of people experienced

(01:58):
there's still an opportunity, Iknow things are celebrations are
cheer. And you can still go outto District56 or to Old Town to

(02:38):
to check that out and get aphoto with their family members.

John Hull (02:42):
Well, you know, there is a lot of holiday cheer and

(03:03):
going going to be our main topicof discussion here on the Elk

(03:30):
Well as we come to the end of2023 we want to talk about the

(03:52):
the road. There are a lot moreautomobiles now than there were

(04:13):
Ashby the traffic engineeringmanager in the city of Elk Grove

James Ashby (04:24):
Well, hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to be
such as needing new stop signsor new roadway striping. My

(04:57):
traffic engineering manager forthe city of Elk Grove. The
plans, timing all the signalswithin the city along with many

John Hull (05:19):
Well you know, we actually have James just a
Franklin Boulevard are the mainones that come to mind for me.

(05:56):
not stopping and going on aconstant basis?

James Ashby (06:00):
This is an excellent question. And one of
all the time. Drivers alwayswant the green light, they say

(06:32):
must consider when balancing oursignal timing. There are also
Laguna Springs, it may take 20to 45 seconds for a pedestrian

(07:10):
maybe a child pushed the buttonand walk the other way. As I
than anticipated or the falsealarm, that timing has to be

John Hull (07:38):
Just real quick, let me let me let me intervene
of what I'm hearing you say?

James Ashby (07:56):
No, not necessarily. It just let the
to activate a signal in theirdirection is emergency vehicle.

John Hull (08:27):
Those are those little devices that are up on

James Ashby (08:38):
Yes, sir.

John Hull (08:38):
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

James Ashby (08:42):
It's an infrared signal that sends to the top of

(09:06):
the infrared, it's basically aline of sight. So as long as

(09:27):
around several curves and getthose flushed out of their way

John Hull (09:33):
That's that's intriguing to me that yeah, all
gone right through theintersection but now the lights

(10:13):
a couple of points. How then doyou time out the drive from the

James Ashby (10:26):
The city recently did a project called the green

(10:47):
experiences right in the greenwave yourself. But signal

(11:07):
Grove Boulevard and LagunaBoulevard are going to have much

(11:29):
movements. After we identify thecritical movements, we consider
beginning of the nextintersection. Once we have all

(12:06):
green light. The...once again,it's not a perfect science

(12:26):
opposite of Laguna Boulevard.
Well, now we're going to stopyou've hit a couple greens and

(12:48):
hit a red light, you think you

John Hull (12:59):
But it what's interesting about what you're
theory get a green light thewhole way across town as long as

James Ashby (13:23):
Right.
Theoretically, you should get

John Hull (13:30):
Okay.

James Ashby (13:31):
You'd almost never make it from 99 to five, all

John Hull (13:36):
That's true.

James Ashby (13:38):
Either of those corridors, right. So we timed

(13:58):
the east/west direction. In thefuture. I'm hoping to start

John Hull (14:08):
Yeah, I'm glad you're doing it. Not us. You get paid

James Ashby (14:14):
Yeah. I would like to if I could add one more

John Hull (14:16):
Yeah, go ahead.
Please.

James Ashby (14:18):
So since we are prioritizing the East/West

(14:42):
safely and as quickly aspossible. And for that on Elk

John Hull (14:55):
James, there are many people in a hurry to get some

James Ashby (15:09):
Another common complaint among residents. speed

(15:30):
For example, if the 85thpercentile speed of the roadway
the speed limit another fivemiles per hour. In my example,

(16:08):
order for law enforcement to beable to enforce those limits

John Hull (16:14):
Okay, that's excellent. Yeah. And it helps us

(16:35):
subject on you to the topic ofroundabouts. Roundabouts. Now, I

(16:59):
and why the city is nowespecially in our eastern part,

James Ashby (17:06):
Okay, the second question every traffic engineer

(17:27):
drivers behavior. And there'stheir education about them. So,
your children. To help everyonebetter understand the roundabout

(18:05):
roadways and roundabouts.
throughout the United Statesthe enforcement comes in in to
desensitize poor driverintersections for two main

(18:46):
reasons. One, they have lessthey're most likely to have a
severe injury. So for thatlight for two and a half

(19:26):
minutes. Continuous flow helpsroadway has more than 3000
vehicles per hour they tend toelectricity and someone hitting

(20:08):
the cabinet or hitting a trafficintersections being further
apart. They seem to be the most

John Hull (20:33):
Any more being planned? Any more roundabouts

James Ashby (20:38):
The short answer is yes. We are looking to implement
that if an intersection meetsthe requirements for a signal,

(21:17):
the roadway safer for all usersincluding a multi use path for

John Hull (21:25):
That's excellent.
Next question. flashing yellow

James Ashby (21:39):
Flashing yellow arrows have been around a while
permissive left turn, or a leftturn yield to oncoming traffic.

(22:17):
green signal indication. Theyalso need to pay attention to
illuminated is the opposing leftturn. This causes all other

(22:52):
signal won't have to give agreen arrow indication and waste

(23:13):
feasible there's certainparameters we must analyze

John Hull (23:26):
Okay, James, let me point to a very busy portion of

(23:47):
a couple of lanes of traffictrying to make their left turn,
looked at that area of of ElkGrove Boulevard and perhaps

James Ashby (24:10):
This area of Elk Grove is a business area has
possible with two opposingdrivers to enter at the same

(24:45):
distance that allows them tosafely slow down and make the
while synchronizing our signalsAnd the solution, if we find a

John Hull (25:20):
Okay, but I could camp out on this question for a

(25:42):
that area? Yeah.

James Ashby (25:43):
Yeah. So that again, that's one of the trade
everywhere and get to the signaland do a u turn. So now, I've

John Hull (26:16):
I get it. You mentioned a few moments ago, the

James Ashby (26:31):
The city has evaluated this area for vehicle

(26:52):
well. There is a great separatedbikeway crossing planned just

(27:13):
there. This will decrease theamount of rail crossings at Elk

John Hull (27:21):
Okay, great. Well, you mentioned in an email

James Ashby (27:39):
The Harvest Water Project is a recycled water
habitats, and offer near termbenefits to the Sacramento San

(28:19):
be installed under the east sideor the northbound lanes of

(28:40):
project will be done in threephases, Franklin Boulevard from

(29:01):
We've worked with Regional Santo implement the traffic
buffered bike lanes. If you guyshave any more questions, there's

John Hull (29:28):
Okay, you have there's so many things that

James Ashby (29:47):
Yes, one project in particular that I'm very excited

(30:07):
yellow back plating. You'veprobably seen them around town
it. The fiber opticcommunication isn't necessary as

(30:48):
traffic volumes in real time torelieve congestion.

(31:08):
the system should be able tonotice the influx in traffic and

John Hull (31:17):
Wow, technology.
James Ashby, our traffic

James Ashby (31:29):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

John Hull (31:36):
In today's Elk Grove Citycast our primary topic is
Sergeant Jason Kearsing of theElk Grove Police Department

Jason Kearsing (32:10):
Thank you, John, I appreciate you having me on
seen a significant increase inthe number of cars on the

(32:43):
for all those who are attending.
During my career. I have alwayspublic on our roadways. My
emphasis now in traffic is onthem quite a bit for the

(33:18):
information I'm gonna share with

John Hull (33:21):
You know as a young man and you may have been in

Jason Kearsing (33:37):
Well, ironically, I did have one or
focus is on all violations thatwill keep our roadways safer.

(34:12):
tried to help people recognizethat getting there a few minutes

John Hull (34:24):
Okay, but are there any actual hotspots here in Elk

Jason Kearsing (34:32):
Well, the city is so big and square miles. Most
focusing our efforts and tryingto slow drivers down on those

(35:05):
to enforce an area of Elk Grove,and then make the determination
usually the streets with themost traffic collisions as well.

John Hull (35:27):
Let's talk about cameras. Now a pretty common

Jason Kearsing (35:38):
The cameras are very effective in a number of
extremely dangerous. There areonly five locations within Elk

(36:11):
of these intersections warningcitizens of their presence. The

John Hull (36:27):
So how effective are these? I guess they're called

Jason Kearsing (36:31):
Yes, that's correct. The red light cameras
that red light camera that'sthere and so ultimately, it

(37:09):
for us to keep it up andfunctioning in the city.

John Hull (37:12):
And people get their tickets in the mail. Right?

Jason Kearsing (37:16):
They do. There's a there's a very extensive
forward with the prosecution. Soonce that occurs, it comes to

John Hull (37:45):
Jason, there is one spot you and your officers can
then south for a block and thenon to the on ramp to 99. These

Jason Kearsing (38:27):
Well, I'm very aware of that location. It's
locations where we see repeatviolations that can be avoided.

(39:03):
year that complaints come indaily. But with only a unit of
beginning of the year. They'vementioned that the reason that

(39:34):
school. So we we understand thatand that's why we have an

John Hull (39:38):
So how do you work basically with the schools and

Jason Kearsing (39:46):
So the motor team, they focus their attention
work with school officials tohelp develop a better traffic

(40:19):
officers that make requests topublic works for curbs to be
enforcement actions. We alsospeak with principals who act as

(40:54):
the officers discretion on howthey handle the violations.

John Hull (40:57):
Okay, Sergeant Jason Kearsing of Elk Grove Police
well do Elk Grove drivers followthose rules?

Jason Kearsing (41:22):
That's a great question. And it's it's
violations within with only afew cars passing by. Now an

John Hull (41:49):
So what other distractions does the traffic

Jason Kearsing (41:53):
Another distraction is pet sitting on a
officer may stop them for thatviolation which includes

(42:24):
makeup while driving or readingmail or office memos while

John Hull (42:39):
Okay. You know, maybe more than any other time of the

Jason Kearsing (42:56):
We take DUI enforcement very seriously, you

(43:16):
federal government and which isdistributed to the agencies
surrounding drunk driving. Thesecome from NHTSA, which is the

(43:57):
one could encounter a drunkdriver on the road between

(44:25):
in 2021, approximately 386,000people suffered injuries due to

(44:53):
fatalities.

John Hull (44:55):
Jason, those are some sobering statistics. So what are

Jason Kearsing (45:05):
That depends upon whether it's a first
with the loss of your licensefor upwards of six months. It

John Hull (45:37):
But what should community members do if they do

Jason Kearsing (45:44):
Well, obviously the police department can't be
vehicle including a licenseplate and direction of travel

(46:15):
try to get this information forus. We never want to put you in

John Hull (46:30):
Okay, Jason, anything else that we should know about

Jason Kearsing (46:35):
Most of its top secret but I will share a little
included reducing crime,addressing homelessness,

John Hull (47:08):
Okay. Well, thank you so much for joining us Sergeant

Jason Kearsing (47:20):
Thank you, John.
Have a great day.

John Hull (47:28):
Time now for our rapid fire segment where I put
Kristyn, we had an email fromone of our listeners to the Elk

(48:09):
the Stone Lakes NationalWildlife Refuge. Now Kristyn,
the lesser known publicspaces/nature spots in and

Kristyn Laurence (48:37):
Sure, the city and the nearby area is a great
pistachio orchards. And the 28acre park is located in the

(49:13):
and largest park at 127 acresand one lap around the park is

(49:33):
point on the trail to eitherhead East to Jack Hill Park and
your doctor's appointments ateither UC Davis, Sutter, or

(50:11):
newer trail with lots ofconnections and amenities,
still working very diligently totry and connect those. And

John Hull (50:48):
Excellent, great, great. It's good. It's there are
or drift different that we couldlook for in 2020. Do you have

Kristyn Laurence (51:10):
Well, we've lined up a really great guests
in Old Town is expected to startand that's currently the

(51:45):
construction at the end of 2024.
And that project will offerreleased in early 2024. And the
council will likely have aconstruction scheduled in 2024

(52:21):
to close one of those gaps onsignal synchronization and that

(52:42):
whole green wave concept and we

John Hull (52:59):
Right in I'm really looking forward to our January

(53:19):
And to all of our listeners. Ithink it's a great opportunity

Announcer (53:41):
Thank you for listening to the Elk Grove
latest news and events. Have anidea for a future episode? Send
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