San Francisco East Bay Indian Casinos

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - With the San Pablo Lytton Casino seeking Vegas-style slot machines, and two more Indian casinos in the planning stages, the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Board issued their study report on the impact of new traffic created by these casinos.

BACKGROUND

• NORTH RICHMOND
  Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians
  
  This tribe hopes to build the $200 million “Sugar Bowl Casino”, a 225,000-square-foot casino with 1,940 Vegas-style slot machines. The location is a 30-acre industrial site in North Richmond along Richmond Parkway. It is bounded by Goodrick Avenue on the East and Parr Boulevard to the south. The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is processing their application and an announcement is expected this summer. For a description of this project, visit our Sugar Bowl Casino page.
   
• POINT MOLATE
  Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians
  
  This Mendocino tribe hope to build a casino complex on 220 acres at Point Molate on the San Pablo Peninsula. Their plans include a 225,000-square-foot casino with 2,500 slot machines, an 1,100-room hotel, and a 300,000- square-foot shopping mall. The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently conducting an environment impact study on the proposed site. At the same time the tribe is seeking a new financial partner and operator to replace Harrah’s which decided to drop out.
   
• SAN PABLO
  Lytton Band of Pomo Indians
  
  This tribe hopes to expand its gaming operation with more slot machines.
  In 2004 they signed a mega-casino compact with Gov. Schwarzenegger to operate 5,000 Vegas-style slot machines, but the legislature took no action to ratify it. Last November 2007 the U.S. Senate passed a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to block the tribe from returning to Sacramento for another try without first getting Congressional approval. The House did not vote on the bill, so the gaming expansion remains unresolved.

TRAFFIC STUDY

A traffic study by the West Contra Costa Transportation Board was funded by Contra Costa and Marin counties to estimate the traffic impact of the proposed Sugar Bowl Casino and an expanded San Pablo Lytton Casino. It studied 46 intersections and nearby stretches of Interstate 80.

The findings show by 2011, 13 of the 46 intersections would score an E or F. An F means traffic demand exceeds capacity. By 2030, 45 would get an E or F.

The federal government already completed a similar study for Sugar Bowl and found far lower estimates of the regional traffic

Return to California Casinos.