Opinion ID: 329593
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Kidwell Project.

Text: 6 The segment of I-80 on which the Kidwell Interchange is being built traverses from the southwest to the northeast a large tract of producing agricultural acreage (the Kidwell area) that lies between Dixon and Davis. Dixon, the project site, and the entire Kidwell area are in Solano County; Davis and most of the Davis campus of the University of California (U.C. Davis), which lies between the Kidwell area and Davis proper, are in Yolo County. Separating U.C. Davis from the Kidwell area, and roughly perpendicular to I-80, is the South Fork of Putah Creek. 7 To reach Davis and other points north and east from the Kidwell area, motorists must cross Putah Creek on I-80. At present there is no access to I-80 between the Pedrick Road Interchange, one and one-half miles southwest of the Kidwell project, and Putah Creek, slightly more than a mile to the northeast of the project. State Route 113 diverges from I-80 right at the creek and leads into Davis, but there is no access to this exit exceptfrom I-80. Thus, the only present means of getting to I-80 from the Kidwell area, other than Pedrick Road, is via a temporary access opening at grade, slightly northeast of the Kidwell project site. High speed traffic and the absence of conventional ramps makes exit and entry via this opening quite hazardous. 8 The avowed purpose of the Kidwell Interchange and its network of frontage roads is to replace this temporary access, which soon must be closed to meet Interstate System safety standards. If the interchange is not completed, additional frontage roads will have to be constructed to connect property adjacent to I-80 with the Pedrick Road Interchange. This alternative would require some property owners to drive south to the Pedrick Road Interchange, turn around, and drive back to reach Davis. Understandably the circuity of this route upsets some of these people. Yet the number of people that would be so affected is very small, for almost all of the Kidwell area is lightly populated agricultural land. There are so few people that Solano County has not yet seen fit to build the road to be called Kidwell Road, which the interchange is supposed to connect to I-80. Thus, the Kidwell Interchange, to be built, say the defendants, at a cost of $519,000, will upon completion serve only one avowed purpose: providing slightly more convenient freeway access to a handful of local motorists. 4 9 The explanation for this curious state of affairs is unmistakable and rather simple: the Kidwell Interchange is not being built to meet the existing demand for freeway access but to stimulate and service future industrial development in the Kidwell area which Solano County and the City of Dixon are now planning. 5 Although the entire area is now zoned agricultural, the 1963 Dixon Area General Plan shows a narrow 2120 acre tract between I-80 and the nearly parallel tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad to the southeast as a General Industrial Reserve. This tract borders I-80 for almost five miles and extends from the current Dixon City limits to Putah Creek. On the northwest side of I-80 is a 1320 acre tract, triangular in shape, shown on the Dixon General Plan as a Limited Industrial Reserve. This tract is bounded by Putah Creek and U.C. Davis on the north and Pedrick Road on the west. As far as we know there are no immediate plans to rezone, but the Solano County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA) has already begun to promote a 150 acre University Research Park to be located in the Limited Industrial Reserve and very near the proposed interchange. 10 Obviously the major attraction for the research and high technology concerns that SCIDA hopes to attract is the park's proximity to U.C. Davis. Unless the Kidwell Interchange is completed, the only access to the park will be by frontage road and the Pedrick Road Interchange; thus, the travel distance to the University would be approximately doubled. Also, affidavits submitted by Davis suggest that the absence of an interchange would substantially increase accessibility costs for potential tenants, thereby making the Kidwell area significantly less attractive as an industrial site. Lack of nearby freeway access would probably also dampen SCIDA's plans for the other side of I-80. These plans, apparently not so far along as the University Research Park, call for encouraging the location of canneries and other food processing plants in the General Industrial Reserve. The importance of trucking in the food processing industry suggests that accessibility costs would be an important factor in plant site selection. 11