CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - At its July 8 meeting, the Citrus Heights City Council heard updates about capital improvement construction projects. City Engineer Leslie Blomquist highlighted projects that are underway or slated to begin soon.

The 2021 Residential Street Resurfacing Project will begin mid-July on 14 neighborhood streets: Blowing Wind Way, Carol Ave., Celestial Way, Covewood Ct., Creekmont Way, Daly Ave., Flaming Arrow Dr., Forbs Way, Glass Slipper Way, Hatfield Ct., Maidstone Way, Picnic Ct., Scribner Ave., and Three Sisters Ct. The $1.3 million project is funded by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Road Maintenance Rehabilitation funds and the Gas Tax.

The LED Streetlight Conversion Project will convert 593 streetlights to energy efficient models; 522 have already been completed. The total budget for the project is $560,000, with $540,000 funded through a low-interest loan from California Energy Commission and $20,000 coming from SMUD rebates and incentives. After completion, there will be a $31,200 reduction in annual energy costs. Those savings will be used to pay back the loan over the next 15 years. The project is expected to be completed this September.

Construction on the Various Signalized Intersection Safety Improvements project will include upgrades to 30 intersection signal indicators, upgraded pedestrian countdown indicators at eight intersections, ADA upgrades at two intersections, and installation of median fencing at the Greenback/Auburn intersection. The new signal heads will improve visibility and should help reduce the frequency of intersection collisions. After project completion, all the signals in the city will have the pedestrian countdown feature, which has been shown to reduce pedestrian-involved crashes at intersections. The project totals $949,819 and is funded through various grants such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Highway Safety Improvement Project (HSIP), Tire-Derived Aggregate (TDA), Transit Impact funds, Measure A funds, and Storm Water Utility fund. Construction started in June and is expected to be completed in October.

Construction also started in June on Phase 4 of the Mariposa Avenue Safe Routes to Schools project, which will include installation of new sidewalks, bike lanes, street lighting, upgraded traffic signal at Madison/Mariposa, and five new ADA accessible curb ramps. The project budget is $1.4 million, funded by the Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant and Measure A. Work is expected to be completed this October.

A variety of county-shared projects are also underway on roads that have shared jurisdiction between Citrus Heights and Sacramento County. Road repairs and resurfacing are in progress on Madison Ave., including video detection at signalized intersections, repaving, replacing damaged median noses, and restriping. Kenneth Ave. is also being resurfaced, in addition to upgrades at the Kenneth/Wachtel/Oak intersection such as ADA compliant curb ramps, replacing damaged curbs and sidewalks, and restriping to narrow the travel lanes and install bike lanes. Residents have frequently identified that intersection as a safety concern, so other traffic calming measures have been implemented: Right-turn yields have been replaced with full stops and large sidewalk bulbs will reduce the intersection size for shorter pedestrian crossings.

For the county-shared projects, the City’s portion of the costs will be a maximum of $1.5 million, funded through SB 1. The actual amount will be billed based on the work completed in the City’s jurisdiction. Construction on these projects started in May and should be completed later this month.

The Council also heard a report from the Citrus Heights Police Department (CHPD) about the response to illegal fireworks over the July 4 weekend.

CHPD Chief Ron Lawrence said, “There was a tremendous amount of fireworks, both safe and sane as well as illegal fireworks, throughout the Sacramento region.” He said that the level of illegal fireworks this year far exceeded what’s been seen in years prior.

The Council passed a temporary urgency ordinance in June, giving the CHPD authority to issue citations to event hosts at locations where illegal fireworks were set off. The administrative fine is $750 for a first offense, and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. But enforcing the ordinance is challenging; illegal fireworks explode in the air, making it difficult to determine where they originated. And tips from the public often provide general areas, leaving officers searching for a specific location after the fact.

CHPD had a dedicated enforcement team of six officers, supported by 10 additional patrol officers during the peak hours of 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM. Officers did witness one illegal firework incident and were able to cite the violator on the scene. Another 16 possible violations were also identified; these have been referred to code enforcement for review, and citations will be issued if appropriate.

Over the 48-hour period of July 3 and 4, CHPD received 457 fireworks-related calls—53% of total calls during that weekend. These calls strain 911 operations and stress an already under-manned police force.

Councilmember Jeannie Bruins said, “I’m just appalled at the volume that has more than doubled since last year.” She asked if there is any information about why this year was so much worse than usual, but CHPD Acting Commander Wes Herman said he could only speculate. No one has a definitive answer about the increase and determining the source of the illegal fireworks would likely need to be a state-level operation.

Councilmember Tim Schaefer said he was “stunned” by the level of explosions in his neighborhood. He asked that CHPD update the Council about the outcome of the 16 possible citations to help inform the Council about whether the ordinance should be made permanent.

Councilmember Bruins said the Council should seriously consider making the ordinance permanent to let the public know how important it is to curtail illegal fireworks. She also suggested bringing the issue to the County Supervisors as well as elevating it to the state level.

Mayor Steve Miller said, “The end game here is if we can’t get a handle on these illegal fireworks, it’s going to be all fireworks. And nobody’s going to be happy. … I don’t want to go there. I think safe and sane have a place in our celebrations, and hopefully we can get a handle on this.”