On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the 2017-2018 California State Budget into law.
The state budget included $800,000 secured by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) for reconstruction of the Yolo County Road 40, or CR 40, low water bridge.
Aguiar-Curry and Dodd said the funds will pay for much-needed repairs to the bridge in order to bolster public safety in the region.
The CR 40 Bridge is currently more than 100 years old and is structurally deficient, causing its closure in 2009.
This bridge is a main connector between the more rural areas of the three counties. It is vital during the fire season to ensure that emergency services have quick and ready access to northern Yolo County and the eastern mountainous regions of Lake and Napa counties.
At the outbreak of the wildfires in 2015, Cal Fire was forced to make a 50-mile detour to reach the fire lines, losing precious hours in that effort.
“The 2015 Rocky Fire was one of several wildfires in the past few years to have caused tremendous damage in both my Senate and former Assembly district,” said Dodd. “These funds are critical in being able to provide our first responders with the adequate transportation needs in the event of an emergency. Restoring this bridge is necessary to ensure the safety of our rural communities in Yolo, Lake, and Napa counties.”
Yolo County identified repairs to the bridge as a necessary public safety investment due to the severe fire threat in the area.
“No one in the middle of an emergency situation wants to hear that the response team is delayed due to an over 50-mile detour. Replacing this critical connection to northern Yolo County, and Lake and Napa Counties is a public safety necessity,” said Aguiar-Curry. “The CR 40 low water bridge repair has been one of my top priorities, and I am thrilled to see the Legislature’s support to help us restore this crumbling infrastructure.”
“I would like to thank Sen. Dodd and Assemblywoman Aguiar-Curry for securing this initial funding for the Low Water Bridge,” said Yolo County Supervisor Duane Chamberlain. “This funding is important to cover the costs of environmental and engineering work needed before we can build a bridge to provide fire safety for the folks in the Capay Valley. I am hopeful that we can secure additional funding next year to build this bridge. It is imperative that the bridge be built. We have a lot of fire danger these days and we need to have our infrastructure in place to fight fires and keep people safe.”
Aguiar-Curry said rebuilding this bridge is essential to protecting residents and the surrounding area from future fires and natural disasters that threaten to devastate the region
“Providing funding for this project will ensure that any future emergency response efforts are not hindered by insufficient and unsafe infrastructure,” she said.
Funding for Yolo bridge project approved; bridge also serves Lake, Sonoma counties
- Lake County News reports
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