Bass Lake Action Committee Traffic and Safety Committee seeks community feedback

The Bass Lake Action Committee’s Traffic and Safety Committee is conducting a community poll regarding potential safety projects along Bass Lake Road.

For many years BLAC has raised concerns regarding the lack of improvements to Bass Lake Road – at many places a substandard rural road built over elements of an early 20th Century farm road, which serves several suburban communities approved and entitled by El Dorado County.

BLAC published a three part series on the history and conditions of Bass Lake Road beginning in 2019:

BASS LAKE ROAD: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Part One: 1863 TO 2019

Bass Lake Road – Present and Future

Bass Lake Road: Past, Present, Future – Conclusion, And Resident Opinion

In recent years, Bass Lake Road has seen some significant improvements:

• The infamous “curve” between Madera Way and Magnolia Hills Drive was removed and replaced with a new intersection with the southern segment of Silver Springs Parkway. This also added a three-way stop sign controlled intersection, a short bike lane connection to Silver Springs Pkwy, and a right turn pocket at Madera Way on northbound Bass Lake Road (more on this turn pocket later).
• A realignment of Bass Lake Road at the realigned Country Club Drive to the US50 interchange.
• A new signalized eastbound US50 on/off ramp at Bass Lake Road.

However, we lack pedestrian facilities from recent development projects, and elements such as bike lanes and sidewalks along Bass Lake Road to serve nearly one thousand homes immediately on the east side of the lake, including any pedestrian or bike connectivity to the new Sienna Ridge Shopping Center. Bass Lake Road also lacks turn pockets into many residential developments, or shoulders to provide refuge space for disabled vehicles, to avoid collisions, or to allow emergency responders to pass stopped traffic.

New Development

Three new large development projects are proposed in the Bass Lake area, and are pursuing entitlements and approvals: The 3,200 residential unit Village of Marble Valley Specific Plan, the 800 residential unit Lime Rock Village Specific Plan, and the two hotel Town and Country Village development at Bass Lake Road and Country Club Drive. Of these projects, BLAC members have been alarmed at the lack of detail for traffic mitigation from the Marble Valley and Lime Rock Valley residential projects, which have suggested undefined “interim” US50 interchange improvements, along with a traffic signal at Hollow Oak Drive and Bass Lake Road. 

The proposed Town and Country Village El Dorado project has recently published a revised Local Transportation Analysis which includes a Super Cumulative analysis of all major projects in the area. This analysis considers mitigation measures such as an improved US50-Bass Lake Road Interchange with a second northbound lane on Bass Lake Road under the US50 overpass, a four lane segment of Bass Lake Road, additional turn lanes at Bass Lake Road and Country Club Drive, a roundabout at the Bass Lake Road and Hollow Oak Drive intersection, and a traffic signal on Bass Lake Road at Hawk View. With 4,000 new homes proposed in the area, and the nearest grocery store and fuel station being the Sienna Ridge Shopping Center, the US50 interchange and Bass Lake Road stand to be significantly impacted. While the Super Cumulative analysis suggests several  potential mitigation measures, the precise improvements required, their timing, and how they will be paid for, remain undecided.

The following points of transportation safety concerns have consistently been raised over many years by BLAC members and area residents. We’re asking community members to assign a priority ranking to each item, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest priority. You can mark multiple items with the same ranking number.

Full Bass Lake Road-US50 interchange improvement.

Currently there are on-ramp metering lights, and a traffic signal for the eastbound US50 on and off ramps. The 2016 update to the Bass Lake Hills Specific Plan’s public facilities financing plan condition projects in the Specific Plan to fund only the design of future interchange improvements – but only when development in the Plan Area hits a predefined trigger of housing units. Funding of interchange improvements have not been identified. 

Change Westbound US50 Bass Lake Rd Off Ramp to Full STOP – remove YIELD

Currently the westbound Bass Lake Road offramp has a Yield control for northbound traffic onto Bass Lake Road. The lane striping is also confusing and is complicated by the merge lane from the old abandoned Country Club Drive connection to Bass Lake Road. 

Area residents observe westbound traffic exiting US50 to northbound Bass Lake Road ignoring the Yield control and dive directly across all travel lanes of northbound Bass Lake Road. Residents have suggested that a full STOP sign control for northbound traffic from the offramp would improve safety and circulation.

Four Lane Bass Lake Rd – US50 to Serrano Pkwy

Expand Bass Lake Road for US50 to Serrano Pkwy to a full four lanes.

Four Lane Bass Lake Rd – US50 to Silver Springs Pkwy

Expand Bass Lake Road from US50 to the Silver Springs Pkwy intersection to a full four lanes. The County currently owns the Right of Way to expand Bass Lake Road from Serrano Pkwy to Silver Springs to four lanes.

This project was removed from the County’s 20-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) in 2015/16.

Four Lane Bass Lake Rd – US50 to Green Valley Rd

Expand Bass Lake Road from US50 to Green Valley Rd to a full four lanes. The right of way to accomplish this north alignment of Silver Springs Pkwy would be enormous. Without a development project to fund elements of four travel lanes north of Silver Springs Parkway this improvement is unlikely to be achieved.

Bass Lake Rd at Hollow Oak Dr Traffic Signal

A project was added to the County’s 20-year CIP this year to add a right turn pocket from northbound Bass Lake Road onto Hollow Oak Drive. The DRAFT EIR for the 3,200 unit Marble Valley Specific Plan indicates a mitigation of a signalized intersection on Bass Lake Road at Hollow Oak  Drive. However, even if approved, it could be many years before it might be constructed.

Bass Lake Rd – Bridlewood Dr Stop Sign

Bridlewood Canyon residents, and other area residents have long sought either a turn lane on Bass Lake Road at Bridlewood Drive, or a stop sign controlled intersection. County Staff have indicated that this is an unworkable solution, and likely would not meet traffic warrants. However, when the BLAC Traffic and Safety Committee pulled CHP collision data for 2009 through 2019, we found that there were more collisions, and more rear-end collisions at the Bridlewood Drive intersection than there were at Green Valley Road at Bass Lake Road. Several residents have suggested that a stop sign at the intersection would increase safety until a permanent improvement can be made.

Bass Lake Rd  – Bridlewood Dr Roundabout

In 2019 the BLAC Traffic and Safety Committee, seeking any sort of solution for the accidents and traffic delays at the Bass Lake Road and Bridlewood Drive intersection, asked about a turn lane, a stop sign, or a roundabout to improve the intersection. Roundabouts can qualify for grant funding. The County Department of Transportation suggested a $2-plus million roundabout for the intersection in early 2020 with a $200,000 contribution from the Serrano Village J7 project. The El Dorado County Transportation Commission obtained a $744,000 contribution for the project, which is now on the County 20-year CIP, but costs have increased to over $4 million, and the timeline for construction is in the years of 2034-2044.

Sienna Ridge Shopping Center Fuel Station Driveway Right Turn OUT only

Since the Sienna Ridge Shopping Center opened, residents have observed drivers driving across the dirt median at the center’s main entrance on Bass Lake Road, despite the NO Left turn signs. But the major concern expressed by residents is the left turn OUT of the southern driveway onto Bass Lake  Road from the Safeway Fuel Station. Poor sightlines, on a hill, with a curve and roadside  vegetation that grows to over 3-4 feet high make the driveway unsafe. 

With 4,000 new residential units proposed in the Marble Valley and Lime Rock Valley Specific Plans, and only one grocery store to serve the community on Bass Lake Road, the safety conditions at this driveway will only get worse.

Bass Lake Rd Residential Entrances – Turn Pockets

The Serrano J6 and J7 Villages were completed without turn pockets or deceleration lanes at their entrances on Bass Lake Road (Whistling Way, and Barbary Way), and without left turn pockets on Bass Lake Road, the same as the late 1980s situation at Bridlewood Drive. Bridlewood Drive, and Magnolia Hills Drive also lack right turn pockets on northbound Bass Lake Road. 

Northbound Bass Lake Rd Madera Way right turn lane SIGNS and Road Paint

In June of 2021 the Silver Springs Parkway extension and connection to Bass Lake Road added a dedicated northbound right turn pocket at Madera Way. It also added a northbound turn lane to continue onto northbound Bass Lake Road at the Silver Springs Parkway intersection. However, the right turn pocket onto Madera Way is not a restricted turn movement designated by signage, or by lane stripping (paint on the roadway).  County DOT has indicated that the turn pocket onto Madera Way is NOT a through lane to continue to travel into the right turn lane for the turn movement onto Bass Lake Road at the Silver Springs Parkway intersection.

The result is motorists using the Madera Way turn pocket to travel through into the Bass Lake Road right turn lane. This has caused confusion for motorists attempting to turn into, and out of Madera Way, as well for motorists attempting to enter the right turn pocket just past Madera Way. A simple correction would be signage and paint on the roadway indicating that the Madera Way turn pocket is not a through lane, and is for right turn movements onto Madera Way only.

Bass Lake Rd Multi Use Pedestrian & Bike Path from Silver Springs Pkwy to Sienna Ridge Rd

The proposed four lane alignment of Bass Lake Road from Serrano Parkway to Silver Springs Parkway dating to the 1990s was intended to provide frontage improvements 

that included pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. In 2015 this four lane Bass Lake Road segment  was removed from the County’s 20-year CIP based on updated modeling that indicated that the four lane alignment was no longer required. 

However, with the opening of the Sienna Ridge Shopping Center residents and area children are left with no safe pedestrian facilities or bike lanes to travel to the shopping center, resulting in pedestrians walking on the outside of the Bass Lake guard rail across the Bass Lake overflow.

Additionally, with the proposed Bass Lake Regional Park, there are no pedestrian facilities for residents to safely walk to the park from nearly 1,000 residential properties on the east side of Bass Lake.

In 2020 the El Dorado County Transportation Commission published their updated Active Transportation Plan for pedestrian and bike facilities.

The plan features a Class A mixed use pedestrian and bike path on the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Bass Lake property along the east and south sides of Bass Lake, off of the roadway. No specific funding has yet been identified for this project.

The intent of  this community poll is to determine the preferences of area residents for potential safety improvements. Perhaps one or more of these projects might become possible, with funding, and the input of residents. 

To complete the online poll, visit https://basslakeaction.net/bass-lake-road-safety-projects-poll/

Poll results will be published in a future issue of the Bass Lake Bulletin.