Traffic Engineering

Traffic volumes play a pivotal role in traffic engineering, serving as a fundamental metric that guides various aspects of transportation planning and management. Understanding traffic volumes is crucial for assessing the safety of road networks enabling engineers to identify high-risk areas and implement safety measures effectively. Moreover, traffic volumes help in optimizing traffic signal timing at intersections, ensuring smoother traffic flow and reduced congestion. This data is also vital for forecasting future developments and planning improvements to accommodate growing populations and changing transportation patterns. In this context, the concept of "peak volume" emerges as a key term, denoting the maximum traffic flow experienced on a road or intersection during a specific time period, typically during rush hours. Accurate knowledge of peak volumes aids engineers in designing infrastructure that can handle the heaviest traffic loads, thereby enhancing overall road network efficiency and safety.

Traffic volume data is reported for streets maintained by the City of Elk Grove. Traffic volume data for State Highways and Interchanges is available to view from Caltrans.

Please note: This program started in 2019 and there are several locations that have been identified that have not been counted yet. As this data is collected the website and map will be updated to include this data.  

A roundabout or traffic circle is a type of circular intersection in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the intersection. Compared to traffic signals, roundabouts reduce the likelihood and severity of collisions greatly by reducing traffic speeds and minimizing conflict areas. For pedestrians, traffic exiting the roundabout comes from one direction, instead of three at a signal, simplifying the pedestrian's visual environment. Traffic moves slowly enough to allow visual engagement with pedestrians, encouraging deference towards them. Other benefits include reduced driver confusion associated with perpendicular junctions and reduced queuing associated with traffic lights. They allow U-turns within the normal flow of traffic, which often are not possible at other forms of junction. Moreover, since vehicles that run on gasoline typically spend less time idling at roundabouts than at signals, using a roundabout potentially leads to less pollution.

Should you have any questions, please contact Public Works at (916) 687-3005.

• Glen Falls Residents Love Roundabout
• All About a Roundabout
• Driving Modern Roundabout
• VDOT: Driving Modern Roundabout
• How roundabouts work

The City of Elk Grove's Preferential Parking Zone Program helps address parking issues in residential neighborhoods by making on street parking by permit only. To start the process to establish a zone, a petition must be provided to Public Works that shows at least 75% of the residences are in support of creating such a zone. This petition is available for your use. Please note that only one vote is allowed per residence. Once the petition is received, Public Works staff will review the request and, if it qualifies, will forward to the City Council for consideration. If approved, the permits would be issued by the Public Works Department. Permits would be issued for each vehicle owned by a resident along with one guest permit per residence. Verification of residential status would require the current vehicle registration and a driver's license or utility bill showing the street address. There is no cost for the permits and they do not have an expiration date. Vehicles parked off the street, such as in driveways, would not need a permit.

If you have any questions please email us or call (916) 478-2256.

The City of Elk Grove partnered with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on the recently completed State Route 99 Northbound Auxiliary Lanes from Elk Grove Blvd to Calvine Rd Project. The goals of the project are to reduce traffic congestion and enhance traffic flow by adding auxiliary lanes on northbound State Route 99 between: 

• Elk Grove Blvd and Laguna Blvd/Bond Rd 
• Laguna Blvd/Bond Rd and Sheldon Road 
• Sheldon Rd and Calvine Rd 

An auxiliary lane connects a freeway on-ramp to the subsequent freeway off-ramp; this becomes an “exit only” lane at the downstream off-ramp. Auxiliary lanes allow traffic to adjust to the proper speed in a designated area before merging into or out of the main traffic lanes and provides for easy access between adjacent interchanges without the need to enter mainline traffic. 

The proper use of auxiliary lanes reduces traffic congestion and increases safety by reducing weaving of traffic and the number of conflicts between slow and higher speed vehicles. When entering a freeway, drivers use the on-ramp and auxiliary lane to accelerate to the proper speed, matching the flow of traffic, before merging with mainline traffic. Similarly, when exiting the freeway, drivers merge into the auxiliary lane and then reduce their speed to safely exit the freeway.