NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Caltrans will begin more than 120 new “Fix-it-First” projects this fiscal year, replacing, repairing and improving more than 6,700 lane miles of pavement, 250 culverts and 320 bridges across the state, due to funds from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
These projects got the green light after the department received almost half a billion dollars of SB 1 funding for new state highway maintenance projects this fiscal year.
“Without the funds from SB 1, some of these projects would be postponed, costing taxpayers a lot more money down the road,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “It would be like putting Band-Aids on our roads and bridges instead of the long-term repair and repaving projects provided by SB 1.”
Caltrans is planning to use about $400 million in SB 1 funds for new maintenance projects to replace, repair and improve the existing state highway, bridges and drainage systems.
Work includes repairing the state highway by eliminating cracks and potholes on roadways; replacing pavement; performing preventative maintenance work to preserve bridges and roads; replacing and repairing culverts/drainage systems to prevent flooding on roadways; widen striping size from 4 to 6 inches on roads to increase safety and visibility for motorists. See the attached list for more details.
In Lake and Mendocino counties, the funds will pay for a striping project that will take place on Highways 20 and 53.
The $4.6 million project will widen striping and increase visibility on 263 lane miles of Highway 20 at various locations from U.S. Highway 101/SR-20 separation in the city of Ukiah in Mendocino County to the Lake/Colusa County line, Highway 29 at various locations from the Napa/Lake County line to east of Konocti Rock Company Road in the town of Kelseyville and from east of Cole Creek Road in Kelseyville to Highway 20 Junction in the town of Upper Lake in Lake County, and Highway 53 at various locations from Main Street in the town of Lower Lake to Highway 20 junction in the town of Clearlake Oaks in Lake County.
Other regional projects include:
– Bridge project on State Routes 1 and 128 in Mendocino County: $1.7 million bridge preservation project will revamp bridges on Highway 1 at various locations from Schooner Gulch Bridge in the city of Point Arena to Caspar Creek Bridge in Mendocino County, and SR-128 at Anderson Creek Bridge in the town of Boonville in Mendocino County.
– Striping project on U.S. Highway 199 and Highway 299 in Del Norte and Humboldt counties: $3.1 million project will widen striping and increase visibility on 178 lane miles of U.S. Highway 199 at various locations from US-101 Junction in Crescent City in Del Norte County to the California/Oregon State line, and State Route 299 at various locations from SR-299/US-101 separation in the city of Arcata to north of Titlow Hill Road in the city of Blue Lake, and from west of Willow Glen/Willow Road to south of New 3 Creeks Road in the town of Willow Creek in Humboldt County.
Since the passage of SB 1, Caltrans has used SB 1 funds to accelerate more than 120 maintenance projects across the state.
So far, Caltrans has completed 42 SB 1 funded maintenance projects, replacing more than 600 lane miles of state highway and improving 33 bridges.
By the end of this calendar year, Caltrans is expected to improve an additional 178 bridges and repair or replace an additional 1,200 lane miles.
For a complete list and to see an interactive map of SB 1 state and local projects, visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/ .
SB 1 provides an ongoing funding increase of approximately $1.8 billion annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the state highway system, including $400 million specifically for bridges and culverts.
SB 1 funds will enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027. Caltrans will also fix 7,700 traffic operating systems, like ramp meters, traffic cameras and electric highway message boards that help reduce highway congestion.