County to use Caltrans grant to study to better evacuation routes for Rancho Murieta

Local transportation officials will explore improved evacuation routes for disasters in the Rancho Murieta area of eastern Sacramento County after receiving $354,120 from Caltrans’ Sustainable Communities Grant program.

Residents, who rely mainly on Jackson Road to get into and out of the 12-square-mile gated community, have faced threats by disasters in the past several years — including flooding on the Cosumnes River in January 2023 and the Caldor Fire, which torched El Dorado County in August 2021 and could have swept west into Rancho Murieta.

According to the Sacramento County Department of Transportation, the 2023 flooding closed Jackson Road, Stonehouse Road and Dillard Road, leaving eastbound Jackson Road, signed as Highway 16, into Amador County as the only safe passage from the rising waters. Those roadblocks also made it difficult for emergency crews to get into the area, which has roughly 5,000 residents.

Officials were also concerned had the Caldor Fire — which destroyed more than 1,000 homes, prompted the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe and burned 221,835 acres across El Dorado, Alpine and Amador counties — turned west and rushed through the dry grasslands around Rancho Murieta and Sloughhouse.

“These events exposed the vulnerability of the area and highlighted the urgent need for infrastructure planning to enhance life safety,” county officials said.

Transportation officials are expected to start the study during next summer by hiring a consultant to study the issues. Officials say future improvements could include new access plans and more roadways, which would require additional funding.

The Caltrans grant will pay for most of the $400,000 survey, county officials said.