E16/Shenandoah Road Proper Signage in the Area •• •• •• •• •• Cal Trans and Public Works came through on this project! The signs are wonderful and the intersection at Hwy 49 and the end of the Jackson Highway (16) is great! THANK YOU •• •• •• •• •• This was first drafted in 2005 - before and after the City of Plymouth received monies to fix the Highway 49 / Shenandoah Road/East 16 / Main Street intersection. I'm leaving this text here because it's good to read. •• •• •• •• •• A driver coming from Jackson on Highway 49 has his instructions to take Fiddletown Road out of Plymouth and veer left onto Shenandoah Road to drive through River Pines to Mount Aukum. These instructions are incorrect: although the signage states the crossroad to Highway 49 as Fiddletown Road - it is not Fiddletown Road - it is East 16, otherwise known as Shenandoah Road. That driver could not find E16 because there was no signage naming East 16/Shenandoah Road to Shenandoah Valley and Fairplay (veer left), and Fiddletown Road (straight up the hill past the Burke Ranch water plant) - though the destinations are listed just before the breakup there, to the right on two green and white signs. There is only one intersection in Amador County that states the road as "E16": Highway 49 / East 16/Shenandoah Road / Main Street. None leading to it (both directions on 49; straight ahead crossing 49 from the start of Main Street) exist. He thought he turned on Fiddletown Road immediately leaving Plymouth. Nowhere along its length is it designated as E16 and as Shenandoah Road - these two names are only posted separately. This, too, is wrong. People get lost easily, since maps don't always have both names. Especially with Highway 16/Jackson Road - ending before Plymouth is reached a couple miles away. People confuse Hwy 16 with E16. And, there are no permanent signs leading people to the Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth from all directions. Those grounds are used more than once a year when the Fair posts its signs for the Amador County Fair in neighboring counties. Signs to the new parks in Plymouth and the Fairgrounds would be good for commerce. This part of it is fun to have done for walking tours, and for the general foot traffic in the central roads of Plymouth. •• •• •• •• •• E16/Shenandoah has only three signs that designate it as E16. These signs lead up to, but are not on E16/Shenandoah Road. There are four signs that designate E16/Shenandoah Road as Shenandoah Road #55. These signs are the small green road signs at some intersections on E16/Shenandoah Road. There are no signs that designate the road as one and the same. There are signs in Plymouth that designate E16/Shenandoah Road as Fiddletown Road. There are signs outside of Plymouth that point people toward Highway 16, or say that Highway 16 ends (which it does.) All of this contributes to many, many, many people getting lost. It is even hard to write this clearly - that is why there are photo-illustrations. Now that the intersection of E16/Shenandoah Road and Main Street is being redone, proper signage must be a consideration. When “pentagonal blue” sign is mentioned below, it refers to the grouping of blue signs including “END”, “TO”, “BEGIN”, arrow signs, and lastly, a sign that does not exist: a small square blue sign under those signs that states “Shenandoah Road”, and probably would also include “Road 55” on it in smaller writing (though not many people know that #.) FIRST GROUP OF FIVE - around the E16/Main Street intersection. 1. Coming from Placerville Here, as with other signs, the road is mislabeled. One does not turn immediately left onto Fiddletown Road - that road is .xx mile (please measure this) from here. One turns left onto E16/Shenandoah Road. This is one of the biggest reasons friends say they get lost. There is a blue pentagonal “TO E16” arrow sign after the sign in the background that points to Fiddletown and River Pines. Shenandoah Valley is not mentioned on any sign. From this corner, Shenandoah Valley is .xx mile (please measure this.) If the signs in the background were consolidated onto one large sign, it would be less congested, and people could determine whether to turn here earlier. 2. Coming from Main Street Here, one does not know the name of the road going forward nor where it leads to. The sign that points either direction for Highway 49 is slightly obscured. There should be an E16/Shenandoah Road sign here, and maybe another that says to Highway 16 x.xx miles pointing to the right. There should be a blue pentagonal E16/Shenandoah Road sign some short length up E16/Shenandoah Road visible from here that says E16/Shenandoah Road BEGINS. 3. Coming from Jackson Here, these signs could be consolidated again. Again, Fiddletown Road is not the immediate turn to the right, etc. like picture #1. And maybe it would be nice to buy new historical marker signs -- these look haggard. There is a blue pentagonal “TO E16” arrow sign here, but again, no designation of Shenandoah Road, none of Shenandoah Valley. If Plymouth is the ”gateway to wine country”, people have to know where the gate is... 4. Coming from Shen. Valley. Here should be a blue pentagonal sign that says END E16/Shenandoah Road and maybe one pointing left that says how far to Highway 16. 5. Going to Shen. Valley. Here, there is a sign that shows which way the towns are -- the first Shenandoah Valley sign in the County. However, since one has been lead to believe they are already on Fiddletown Road, now one has no clue what road one is on if one turns left. One thinks it’s a different road than the signs that show it as Fiddletown Road / E16. There should be a pentagonal blue sign posted for those coming down from Fiddletown Road that shows E16/Shenandoah Road in both directions, and a pentagonal blue sign for people from this direction and that direction that shows E16/Shenandoah Road after the hard left turn (there is a yellow diamond tractor sign there in a good position currently.) NEXT GROUP OF TWO - around the intersection of 16 and 124. 6. Coming from Sacramento. Here, before the intersection of 124 and Highway 16, one is shown where Ione and Jackson are -- no Plymouth or Shenandoah Valley or Fiddletown Wine Country sign -- maybe the Tourism Bureau can help. 7. Coming from Sacramento. Here, at 124 and Highway 16, one sees in the distance a sign to Plymouth, Sutter Creek, and Jackson. NEXT GROUP OF FIVE - around intersection of END of Highway 16 and 49. 8. Coming from Sacramento. Here, one knows how to get to Plymouth, Sutter Creek, and Jackson. There should be a mention of Shenandoah Valley at this point, before the immediate split in the road. 9. Coming from Sacramento. A little closer to the intersection, one sees the way to Placerville via 49. 10. Coming from Sacramento. Here, we see the END of Highway 16 (same intersection). In the distance, we see how far it is to Plymouth, Placerville, and Auburn. No mention of Shenandoah Valley, Fiddletown, or River Pines. It does have a sign that shows one is still on Highway 49. No mention of how far one is from the junction of E16/Shenandoah Road, which should be hanging on the pole in the foreground. 11. Coming from Jackson. Here, one sees how to get to Sacramento and Placerville, and the junction of Highway 16, not “BEGIN 16” or the like. Nor how to get to where we really want to go... 12. Coming from Jackson. Here, at the last possible second, one sees how to get to Plymouth. It would be nice to have a sign stating “Amador County Fairgrounds” pointing right to guide visitors staying in hotels over in Jackson. The new Tourism Bureau might help with this sign, also. The Amador County Fairgrounds and the Shenandoah Valley & Fiddletown Wine Country are the two attractions on this side of the County. The Highway 16 sign directs people looking for E16/Shenandoah Road to Sacramento. They think that it is West one way, and East the other, but then they realize they are not on “ANY 16” if they veer right. This intersection is a deathtrap, and may be so due in part to signage not highlighted in this article. Visit the intersection and look closely at the arrow signs to see how people may get confused here -- this is a whole other safety issue that I am only addressing here. Another horrible accident happened here just a day before the 2006 Fair. Below are images from the webpage http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=163315 showing accidents from July 2005. Also visit http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=88172 to read about another accident in 2003 at this intersection. I'm sure there have been many accidents here ... and there will be more. •• •• •• •• •• Some more signs to consider. It would be nice to have pentagonal blue E16/Shenandoah Road signs at ALL of the intersections from Main Street to the county’s border with El Dorado County. It would be nice to have a sign at the junction of Old Sacramento Road and Latrobe Road showing how far it is to our neighboring cities of Latrobe and El Dorado Hills. Latrobe has a sign showing how far it is to Plymouth (one of the few signs outside of the county leading here.) El Dorado Hills is set to become a brand new city -- it would be a great publicity campaign to put in a sign for them if they do it for us -- and this would attract many more visitors frequenting between cities. One idea would be to have a sign on exit 30A on Highway 50 that shows the mileage to Shenandoah Valley and Plymouth. 1000 HOUSES ARE GOING IN ON LATROBE ROAD AS OF 2006. That would attract MANY people to Plymouth. (And truckers, tourists, friends, and the like would be grateful.) This is true. There is no better way Plymouth could spend its time attracting people first without road signs showing how to get from A to B. And then, once the signs are up, Plymouth could spend publicity moneys elsewhere. Napa Valley has signs on the highways leading to it and its neighboring towns. Also - there almost no center divider reflectors left on E16/Shenandoah between Steiner Road in Shenandoah Valley up past Ostrom Road and to the City of River Pines. This is difficult to navigate in foggy and wet weather, since there are some shoulders that tend to gather pools of water nearly half the width of the road. •• •• •• •• •• This can work: Businesses in the local area direct traffic (tourists, workers, deliveries, etc.) here via Latrobe Road, Highway 49 from Placerville, E16/Shenandoah Road from Fairplay, Ostrom Road from Fiddletown, E16 from Plymouth, down 49 from Placerville, up 16 from Sacramento, up 124 from Ione and Stockton, ESPECIALLY 49 from Jackson - this route connects the county commerce the best. So, we can concentrate on the 49 corridor sign corrections FIRST, and thus better have the state to work with, it's better for traffic flow since this is a state highway. We can maybe work with Placerville to get a Shenandoah Valley sign AND Plymouth sign or two put in some good locations just off of 50 up there and on 49 in Placerville to direct people here. It's best to work inside-out -- correct the closeby signs nearer city limits to get the immediate persons in the right direction. Shenandoah Road/E16 signs are imperative. •• •• •• •• •• Thank you for your time and consideration. •• •• •• •• •• Hello - Galleries - Plants Unless otherwise specified, all images, copy, and artwork contained within the michaelspinetta.com domain are copyright 1975-2005 Michael J. Spinetta. All rights reserved. Any form of publishing copyrighted material requires permission of the artist. Artist retains copyright after sale of artwork.