A segment of paving of Sylvan Road from Greenback Lane to San Juan Avenue described by motorists as “rough as a washboard” are included in a comprehensive list of projects scheduled for completion in the 2025 Street Resurfacing Project which is now underway. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Two major city street improvement projects, including a upgrade of a significant segment of Greenback Lane from Mariposa Avenue to Birdcage Lane where damaged portions of a steel mesh pedestrian median have been removed and were not replaced due to past traffic collisions, and a segment of paving of Sylvan Road from Greenback Lane to San Juan Avenue described by motorists as “rough as a washboard” are included in a comprehensive list of project scheduled for completion in the 2025 Street Resurfacing Project which is now underway.

Last November, the city council recently awarded the construction contract for its 2025 Pavement Strategy, which is part of its Three-Year Pavement Preservation Program.

The Pavement Preservation Plan was first adopted in December 2023 and includes a schedule, laying out city streets which will receive some form of treatment during this calendar year.

The Three-Year Pavement Preservation Plan, approved in 2023, originally identified 222 streets that needed resurfacing. Following monitoring and coordination with utility companies, that list has since grown to 254 streets, according to officials.

The full map can be viewed at citrusheights.net/460/Pavement-Maintenance-Program.

In all, the city of Citrus Heights maintains and repairs approximately 237 miles of streets. This annual project goals for 2026 will resurface various residential streets around the city including asphalt and concrete repairs as needed.

The city project map includes multiple major arterial streets, including Greenback Lane, Fair Oaks Boulevard, Auburn Boulevard and Antelope Road.

Street improvements are welcome news for motorists who travel along busy Greenback Lane from Mariposa Lane to Birdcage Lane towards Sunrise Mall, and who make left or right hand turns from the pocket turn-out lanes which have little protection from oncoming traffic due to missing barrier fencing other than a raised concrete median.

At night, the glare of headlights at from oncoming traffic make turns out or into the residential apartment complexes along Greenback Lane a difficult challenge.

Improvements include removing sections of the median fence along Greenback Lane between Mariposa Avenue and Birdcage Street and repairing the concrete median as needed.

Some sections of concrete medians and turn pockets between Birdcage and Mariposa will be reconstructed and the median fencing removed, according to Marisa Brown, city communications officer.

“The City’s planned improvements also include ADA ramp upgrades, traffic signal upgrades, pedestrian enhancements, adding a fourth crosswalk along the westerly side of the Greenback and Birdcage intersection, and full pavement resurfacing,” she said.

Over 250 identified streets are expected to be resurfaced over the next two years; however, construction work such as damaged curb, gutter, and sidewalk repair; adding nonexistent sidewalk sections where needed; and storm drainage infrastructure updates and repairs need to be completed prior to resurfacing, according to the city.

In addition, traffic signals will be modified at two city intersections: an additional crosswalk will be installed on the west leg of Greenback Lane at Birdcage Street, and another will be added on the east leg of Auburn Boulevard at Carriage Drive.

Before the city’s 2025 Pavement Strategy, which is part of its Three-Year Pavement Preservation Program, the city resurfaced about two miles of roadway each year. The city now intends to improve that total up to 52 miles annually, allowing for more streets in more neighborhoods to be resurfaced, faster than ever before.

“In total, 125 roadways will be resurfaced this Fiscal Year, with updated striping and neighborhood safety improvements included,” according to Ash Feeney, Citrus Heights city manager.

The city is also allocating a portion of its General Fund, typically reserved for core services like public safety and operations, to support much-needed deferred maintenance pavement improvements.

Motorists who prefer to turn right towards San Juan Avenue from Greenback Lane by traveling a shorter portion of Sylvan Road towards where that portion of Sylvan and San Juan merge before Stock Ranch Road, will soon find smoother pavement to travel.

Sylvan Road from Greenback Lane to San Juan Avenue is also on the city’s 2026 Pavement Restoration list. Completion of this road segment is subject to Citrus Heights Water District’s ongoing main line replacement project, Brown said.

Other planned improvements listed by the city include widening the sidewalk on the north side of Auburn Boulevard between Carriage Drive and Sylvan Middle School, adding a raised concrete median on the east leg of Auburn Boulevard at Carriage Drive to replace existing delineators, and upgrading eleven traffic signals with modern detection systems to replace in-pavement loop detectors.

The overall scope (of the future projects) includes several targeted safety and accessibility enhancements throughout the city as part of the Multi-Modal Transportation Safety Plan (MMSP).

“We have increased a number of streets where we will be doing a multi-layer treatment on, [which] automatically does trigger ADA upgrades, so we’ve had to make adjustments for that,” General Services Director Regina Cave told council members at the Nov. 12 City Council meeting.

The agreement for street improvements during 2026 totals an amount of a little over $1,477,000 and will be funded over multiple fiscal years through the city’s General Fund, and funding has already been allocated through Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funding.