Cottonwood intersection to get signals soon

CONGESTED: Drivers wait on the I-5 off-ramp to get onto Gas Point road.

Cottonwood residents have complained about the stop-and-go traffic along Gas Point Road at the Interstate 5 overpass for years.

This summer, Shasta County Public Works expects to install stoplights at the Gas Point and Rhonda roads intersection as well as at the on- and off-ramps to I-5 on the southbound side of the freeway.

The improvement would involve a slight widening of Gas Point Road to allow for three lanes of westbound traffic west of the southbound off-ramp. The extra lane would decrease the number of cars that wait on the off-ramp for Gas Point Road to clear of traffic. That should allow about four more cars to queue at the Rhonda Road intersection, county officials said.

Pat Minturn, public works director, said he expects the improvement to solve Cottonwood’s congestion through 2020, depending on how much the area grows.

Minturn said he first met with Caltrans in May of 2006 to work out the basic design of the improvements, and that the two agencies have since drawn out negotiations to clarify the share of responsibility each jurisdiction has over the improvements.

The agencies are involved in final negotiations now, Minturn said. Once begun, the work should take 40 to 50 days to complete.

No new signals are planned to service the northbound lanes of the freeway.

Minturn suggested two other improvements in the 20- to 40-year future of Cottonwood. As impact fees and devel opments increase in Cottonwood, Minturn proposed that the Main Street exit to Cottonwood could branch off onto Rhonda Road.

He also recommended a west-side bypass for Cottonwood. He proposed a bypass to link Gas Point Road near North Cottonwood Elementary with Rhonda Road in Anderson. The bypass would link the young residential developments of Cottonwood Hills Estates and the Vineyards with the Anderson Marketplace containing the Wal-Mart.

Those traveling to Redding from Cottonwood would still use I-5, he said. However, for those shopping at the Shasta Outlets or Wal-Mart in Anderson, Minturn said Cottonwood is too dependent on I-5 for such local trips.

“The best thing about the bypass is it would be conditional on each of the new parcels to help build it,” Minturn said.