Elk Grove's social media posting on Project Elevate met with excitement, some skepticism; Traffic will worsen

Perhaps waiting to have a larger audience on the day after the Fourth of July holiday, earlier this week, Elk Grove announced on social media that the City Council had approved the long-delayed Project Elevate.

In the works for almost a decade, the mixed-use project spearheaded by the city will be competing with two nearby upscale shopping centers, In hype reminiscent of the announcement of the now-defunct Sacramento Zoo relocation project and the launch of the now-closed taxpayer-subsidized Slow and Low restaurant in Historic Downtown - Old Town Elk Grove, the city posted on Instagram a glowing description of the new shopping center. 

"This is more than just development. It’s a game-changing step toward creating a vibrant, walkable destination where residents and visitors alike can work, shop, dine, and connect," the city's public relations department claimed. 

The post was met with overwhelming positive feedback. A sampling of the postive feedback said things like, "How exciting! Congratulations!" and "This is wonderful!"

While the post has received over 1,200 likes, there were several comments not quite as supportive. Many centered on the ongoing traffic congestion on Elk Grove Boulevard. Some of those comments make remarks such as "How will our roads be able to handle all of this growth. It all sounds amazing but the traffic is getting unbearable" and "there’s already traffic backed up there for ppl heading to 99. Can’t imagine what adding a major shopping center there would do. It’s a great addition but not sure how you can redirect traffic in that location."

Unfortunately for motorists along Elk Grove Boulevard between Franklin Boulevard and as far east as Waterman Road in old Elk Grove, the congestion will only worsen. The possible relief valve for traffic along that corridor, the long-planned and delayed Whitelock Parkway and Highway 99 interchange, remains partially unfunded and unlikely to be operational anytime in the next decade.

 In a possible reference to the long-delayed Whitelock Parkway interchange, there were comments such as "No. We don’t need this yet. We need more roads."

While traffic congestion was a top concern expressed, there were also comments expressing skepticism toward city leaders. The comments were in the context of other failures. Those remarks included statements like, "Please don’t let this fail like the Zoo," and "We will see if it happens just like the zoo." 

Others were outright skeptical given Elk Grove's practice of over-promising and under-delivering. Those people said, "I’ve heard this tune before, hope it doesn’t end the way The Outlets ended. Especially since we’re entering a recession." 

The most telling comment centered on the city's heavy focus on the newer Elk Grove neighborhoods west of Highway 99. One person lamented, "Wish the trails had more effort and attention. In that part of town, they are well groomed and no people camping on the benches. The east side of 99 is in poor condition and campers are burning down the benches. Looks a lot like DelPaso."

Now that the city has sold the 20-acre parcel to CenterCal Acquisitions at a bargain basement price of $4 million, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her city council are on the clock. 

Given that this mixed-use and highly anticipated development has already undergone one change of developer (Hines Interest, which withdrew two years ago), has been downsized, and expectations lowered, it will be worth monitoring if Project Elevate ever launches and, if so, whether it will be subjected to additional delays and further downsizing.