Nevada County Transportation Commission

 

The Highway 49 Multimodal Corridor Plan focuses on focuses on improving key intersections, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and improving crossings from the State Route 20/SR 49/Uren Street intersection to the Nevada County Juvenile Hall. The improvements will allow active transportation users to travel along and across the SR 49 corridor safely and comfortably while accessing important destinations near the project area.

 

In 2018, NCTC in coordination with Nevada County and Nevada City recognized the need to address the lack of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and safety concerns from community residents and initiated the SR 49 Multimodal Corridor Plan to evaluate traffic conditions SR 49 between the SR 20/SR 49/Uren Street intersection in Nevada City to the Nevada County Juvenile Hall. More information on the Final Report is located below.

 

During the development of the SR 49 Multimodal Corridor Plan, NCTC hosted two public workshops in 2019 to identify community concerns, desired improvements in the corridor and receive input on improvement concepts.  In December of 2022, NCTC in coordination with Nevada City and Nevada County successfully secured state Active Transportation Program grant funding to construct the improvements.

 

The State Route 49 Multimodal Corridor Improvements, Nevada City focuses on improving key intersections, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and improved crossings along the segment of SR 49 between the intersection of SR 20/49/Uren Street and County Juvenile Hall driveway/SR 49.  The improvements will allow active transportation users to travel along and across this section of the SR 49 corridor safely and comfortably while accessing important destinations near the project area.

 

Intersection improvement locations include SR 49 and Coyote Street, North Bloomfield Road/East Broad Street, Maidu Ave/Orchard Street, and Cement Hill Road/West Broad Street.  North Bloomfield/East Broad Street is signal-controlled, while the remaining three are side-stop controlled. Safety concerns will be addressed at all four locations. SR 49/Coyote Street improvements include a right-in-right-out intersection reconfiguration, new lighting, and high-visibility crosswalks with refuge islands and rectangular rapid flashing beacons along both crossing legs. Crosswalks at North Bloomfield Road/East Broad Street will be improved with new high-visibility markings. Maidu Ave/Orchard Street and Cement Hill Road/West Broad Street improvements include single-lane roundabouts, new lighting, shared-use paths around the roundabout perimeter, and high-visibility crosswalks with median refuge islands at each intersection leg.

 

New shared-use paths and sidewalk in several locations will connect to existing and future trails. At the east end of the corridor, between SR 20 and North Bloomfield Road, a shared-use path will connect to the existing Rood Center Path at North Bloomfield Road, which extends to Helling Way. At the west end, a shared-use path will span from the Juvenile Hall driveway to West Broad Street. At Cement Hill Road/West Broad Street, the roundabout will connect to the shared-use path to the west at the southwest corner, and sidewalk along Cement Hill Road at the northeast corner. A sidewalk will also extend to the north to Hirschman’s Trail.

 

 

The State Route 49 Multimodal Corridor Improvements, Nevada City was prepared to provide recommendations for the improvement of roadway and traffic conditions in order to make it safer and easier for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to cross and travel along Highway 49 from the SR 20/SR 49/Uren Street intersection in Nevada City to the Nevada County Juvenile Hall. This will likely require a focus on intersections and innovative ways to reduce motor vehicle speeds prior to and throughout the corridor.