Safety improvements planned for dangerous stretch of Sacramento's Arden Way

A new safety plan is being proposed for one of Sacramento's busiest commercial corridors, and one of the most dangerous.

Arden Way, which leads to the city's largest shopping mall, has had nearly 300 car crashes along a two-mile stretch over the last five years - and three people have died.

City councilman Roger Dickinson says more needs to be done to make the street safer. Parts of Arden Way have sidewalks that abruptly end, forcing people to walk along a dirt shoulder. And the number of crosswalks is limited.

"If somebody ever tries to walk that distance, they will find it's not very inviting," Dickinson said.

Resident Gary Moll frequently walks along Arden and says he's seen plenty of bad driving behavior.

"A lot of people go over the speed limit there's no doubt about that, got too many of them doing it," Moll said.

Bicyclists also report they've had close calls with cars.

"Cars will come in front of me, turn right in front of me, that's what's scary," cyclist Bill Dean said.

The City of Sacramento is considering a series of safety improvements. One idea is to remove a traffic lane in each direction and turn it into a protected bicycle path and wider sidewalk.

But people like Moll say that could create bad traffic backups.

"It's going to cause a lot of congestion, a lot of frustrated angry people," Moll said. "In the long run, I don't think it will be a good idea."

Dickinson said the loss of a traffic lane is part of the solution.

"People might feel as if, 'Well, if they take a lane away, I can't get through the area as quickly as I used to,'" Dickinson said. That's part of the idea, we want to create a safer travel environment for everyone."

Right now, the city's biggest hurdle is coming up with the funding for the project.

"We scrape every barrel, we look for every grant, we do everything we can because these are really critical improvements that need to be made," Dickinson said.

Wednesday evening was the final community workshop on the Arden Way safety plan. The ideas will now be sent to the city's traffic commission and will need to be approved by the Sacramento City Council before construction can begin.