Court Street in Quincy has been a traffic conundrum for decades. It intersects with Main Street and State Route 70, also known as Crescent Street, in a complicated three-way intersection. Transportation officials have tried to mitigate the hazards by eliminating both left turn traffic onto Main Street and straight-ahead traffic onto Crescent Street.
Now one of Court Street’s two blocks is the focus of a study to determine the effects of closing it to traffic altogether. A document, prepared by TJKM Transportation Consultants, presents an in-depth review of the impacts on the transportation infrastructure due to the total closure (Scenario A) and partial closure (Scenario B) of Court Street at Main Street.
The 251-page document includes 13 figures, many of them modeling traffic at the intersection under three different scenarios. It also considers the effects of traffic on several other neighboring streets, and how closure would impact bicyclists and pedestrians.
Two scenarios
The first proposal, Scenario A, studies the effects of total closure of the southern leg of the intersection, preventing traffic access to and from Main Street along Court Street, but continuing to allow access to the alley which intersects with Buchanan Street behind Dame Shirley Plaza. An illustration in the study shows a patch of lawn next to the sidewalk in front of the Plumas County Courthouse extending across what’s now Court Street at the Mains Street intersection. It also proposes parking along the street, with access from Jackson Street.
Scenario B evaluates the transportation effects resulting from the partial closure of the southern leg of the intersection. This scenario eliminates Court Street’s left lane, preventing access from Main Street along Court Street, but retaining the existing northbound right-turn movement from Court Street onto Main Street.
The study was designed to consider the effects of both scenarios on surrounding streets, said Rob Thorman, Plumas County Public Works director. Despite copious consideration under a variety of conditions, the study doesn’t project enough additional traffic for nearby streets for negative impacts, he said.
“My interpretation of the traffic study is that both closing off <Court Street> completely and right turn only have no effect on the level of service for surrounding streets,” Thorman said.
Recent controversy
In September, 2024 a preliminary proposal to redesign the Court Street intersection drew criticism from members of the public, who said it lacked data and had not been presented to residents of the area. Presented by Jim Graham, who recently retired as executive director of the Plumas County Transportation Commission, it was based on conversations with Caltrans officials held nearly three years ago.
The current study is the result of those requests for data, said Thorman. The transportation commission needs public feedback to decide which closure is right for Court Street, he said.
Leaving Court Street as it is is not among the options included in the study.
Thorman has scheduled a public meeting Aug. 12 from 6 – 8 p.m. in the Quincy branch of the Plumas County Library. “Come help shape a vision for the future of Court Street,” he said.
