Why Is An Interchange Being Built On Highway 65?
ROCKLIN (CBS13) — Another major road project in the area is underway in the form of a highway interchange in Placer County.
That work has drawn the attention of more than a few of our viewers who are wondering why the work is necessary.
The area where Highway 65 and Interstate 80 meet up is getting crowded, so an interchange is being designed to ease the crunch.
To understand why it's going up, we need to take a step back to the growing Whitney Ranch neighborhood in Rocklin. It's being built for them and anyone else who needs an easier way to get across Highway 65 into what will be a bustling new commercial district.
It'll be similar to one that already exists down the road in Rocklin off of Interstate 80 and Sierra College Boulevard. The shopping area includes a number of big-name stores.
"As the city builds out, we have three options," said Rocklin commerce and communications director Troy Holt. "We we can either raise taxes to improve those services and quality of life, reduce those services—which nobody wants—or we capture the purchasing power that already exists here."
Capturing that purchasing power is a big part of what the new expressway will do. At least that's what Rocklin is banking on, along with encouraging job growth and convenience.
"This interchange could create as many as 2,000 jobs in this area so people will drive less to go to work and to shop," he said.
The project could be done soon.
"As soon as the weather clears up we'll be ready to go and then by summer we'll have people driving on that thing," he said.
Caltrans isn't the agency behind the project—it's the city of Rocklin.
