Construction will begin Monday, August 22 on the westside widening of E. Bidwell Street, from Highway 50 to White Rock Road.

The E. Bidwell Street widening project adds an additional southbound vehicle lane and a bike lane. When completed, E. Bidwell Street will be at its final width, and traffic flow will improve along E. Bidwell Street and at the intersections of Alder Creek Parkway and Savannah Parkway.

Motorists can expect minor traffic delays due to lane closures on E. Bidwell Street, Alder Creek Parkway, Westwood Drive, and Savanna Parkway through April 2023. The city has installed message signs to alert motorists about the closure, and flaggers will direct traffic as needed.

For more information, contact Senior Civil Engineer Dan Wolfe at 916-461-6212 or dwolfe@folsom.ca.us.

Folsom’s organics recycling program is off to a great start, thanks to residents and businesses who are leveraging their new green bins to recycle food and yard waste. Organic material from Folsom homes and businesses, including food scraps, food-soiled paper, and lawn and leaf clippings, is now transformed into compost for farms, gardens, and parks to use.

The program includes essential changes to your residential waste collection, and green bins are now serviced every week.

For residents, this means that gray garbage bins and green organics bins should be placed curbside for service every week, while blue recycling bins will continue to be serviced every other week. Place your bins curbside no later than 6 a.m. on the morning of your service day, and make sure bins are at least three feet from each other and any other obstacles.

The Waste & Recycling Division provides a calendar tool on the city’s website. Residents can view, download, and print their collection schedule with this helpful tool. Residents can also view their collection schedule and receive weekly reminders by downloading the Folsom Waste Collection App.

The Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms are hosting a one-day donation drive to collect items for overseas military service members. The items will be assembled and packaged at this year’s Community Service Day event.

Drive-thru donation drives will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. August 26 and September 9 at two Folsom locations:

• Folsom City Hall, 50 Natoma Street
• Steve Miklos Aquatic Center, 1200 Riley Street

Needed items include:

• Single-serving instant coffee (Starbucks Via)
• Protein bars
• Turkey and beef jerky
• Single-serve instant oatmeal packets
• Toothbrushes and travel-sized toothpaste
• AA and AAA batteries

Find more information and a complete list of most-needed items at www.rollinghillsbluestarmoms.org.

The CAVE Teen Centers on the Folsom and Sutter Middle School campuses are accepting registrations for the 2022-23 school year. The CAVE program is operated by Folsom Parks & Recreation and provides a safe, structured, and positive environment for middle school students in 6th through 8th grades who need supervised after-school care.

The teen centers are open from class dismissal to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from class dismissal to 5:30 p.m. Friday. The schedule includes all early dismissal days. Onsite recreation leaders engage the teens in activities including games and contests, arts and crafts, outdoor sports and games, pool, table tennis, video games, and movies. Each CAVE location also provides a quiet room for students who want to work on homework.

Preregistration is required to attend—drop-in attendance is not allowed. The CAVE fees for the 2022-23 school year are: $100/month from August through May. Early registration is encouraged; spaces are limited and waitlists will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

Find more details and registration information online. Email Nadia Khhokhhar Roberts or call 916-461-6685 with questions about the teen centers.

The Folsom Public Library Summer Reading Challenge was completed at the end of July. Participants from the community read a total of 18,502 books! More than 1,600 people completed the challenge by reading five or more books. The four grand prize winners have been contacted and received their $100 Target or Ruby’s Books gift cards. Learn more about library programs and services at www.folsom.ca.us/library.  

Folsom residents can save 65% on a Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller through a rebate program offered by the City of Folsom.

The Rachio 3 Controller acts like a thermostat for your sprinklers, using local weather conditions to adjust how long your sprinklers run. The controller automatically reduces sprinkler runtimes when the weather is cooler and increases them when the temperatures rise. You can also manage the controller from your smartphone with the Rachio app.

It’s estimated that replacing a standard controller with a WaterSense-labeled smart controller like the Rachio 3 can save an average home about 13,500 gallons of water per year.

The Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller typically retails for about $220 for an eight-zone system but is being offered at a reduced rate of $75 plus tax. Residents are responsible for the installation.

Rebates are available for a limited time on a first-come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted. Learn more at www.folsom.ca.us/rebates. 

Folsom Parks & Recreation’s Fun Factory Preschool has a limited number of openings in the classes for 4-year-olds. Class is held from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; classrooms are located at the Folsom Community Center and Andy Morin Sports Complex. Children must be age 4 by September 1, 2022 to be eligible to register. Learn more about the program and find answers to frequently asked questions online. Contact Whitney Kahn at 916-461-6612 or by email with questions.

Limited space is still available for twosomes and foursomes in the Mayor’s Cup Golf Tournament, Friday, September 23 at Empire Ranch Golf Club. This 25th annual fundraising event benefits The CAVE after-school teen center program. Tournament fees include breakfast, driving range practice, cart, tons of player swag, fun games and contests along the course, raffle, and lunch. The tournament opens at 6:45 a.m. for check-in, breakfast, and driving range practice; the shotgun start is at 8 a.m. Contact Marilyn at mrobitaille@folsom.ca.us for more details and reservations.

Thousands of volunteers will complete dozens of service projects Saturday, September 17 at the ninth annual Community Service Day. Folsom’s largest day of volunteerism mobilizes residents of all ages to complete projects throughout the city that make a positive, lasting impact. Community Service Day is organized by the City of Folsom, local businesses, and community organizations. The annual event is made possible thanks to generous sponsorship support from Intel, Lennar, the Folsom Telegraph, Style Media Group, Goodfellow Bros., Lakeside Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Rotary Club of Folsom, and other members of the business and service community.

Volunteer registration is open; early registration is encouraged as project teams fill quickly. Learn more and register to volunteer at www.folsomcommunityservice.org.

With rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall in the last decade, many residents have converted their lawns to water wise landscapes. Lawn conversions save water but can be stressful on your trees! Initial signs of distress such as wilting can resemble drought stress, but other signs can appear over a year later–dieback in outer branches, susceptibility to pests and disease, and even death. Visit the Sacramento Tree Foundation website for tips to keep your trees healthy during landscape changes.

Work is underway on an annual street maintenance project on various arterial roadways throughout Folsom. The project consists of localized asphalt repairs, application of a slurry seal, and new roadway striping with buffered bike lanes. The slurry seal creates a new wearing surface and seals the asphalt to prevent the damaging effects of water intrusion into the pavement.

The following roads will receive the slurry treatment this year:

• Iron Point Road between Folsom Boulevard and Ingersoll Way.
• Iron Point Road between East Bidwell Street and McAdoo Drive.
• Broadstone Parkway between East Bidwell Street and Iron Point Road.
• Oak Avenue Parkway between American River Canyon Drive and Baldwin Dam Road.



Work will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and will continue until late September. At least one single lane will remain open to traffic at all times. For more information, visit www.folsom.ca.us/PublicWorks, or call 916-461-6713.