Monday, 06 May 2024

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The California Transportation Commission has allocated more than $2.2 billion to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state at its August meeting.

The allocation includes more than $1.6 billion in funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, or IIJA, and nearly $336 million in funding from Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

“Thanks to a historic influx of federal funding and our ongoing investments powered by SB 1, California continues to make major progress in rebuilding, revitalizing and reimagining our infrastructure to support a cleaner, safer and more equitable transportation system,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares.

Projects approved this week include:

• Approximately $9.6 million toward pavement and roadway improvements along U.S. 101 from Fortuna to Alton in Humboldt County. The $9.6 million allocation includes more than $8.7 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $22.4 million toward improvements on Route 36 at Hely Creek Bridge, Little Larabee Creek Bridge and Butte Creek Bridge near Bridgeville in Humboldt County. The $22.4 million allocation includes more than $19.9 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $7.8 million toward the construction of a retaining wall and roadway improvements on Route 96 near Weitchpec in Humboldt County. The $7.8 million allocation includes more than $7 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $7.5 million toward roadway and sidewalk improvements in Humboldt County along U.S. 101 in Eureka from McCullen Avenue to Commercial Street and the installation of fiber optic communications from traffic signals to the Caltrans District 1 Office. The $7.5 million allocation includes more than $6.7 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $8.7 million toward roadway improvements in Humboldt County along U.S. 101 in Eureka from north of V Street to 6th Street. The $8.7 million allocation includes more than $7.8 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $5.4 million toward storm damage roadway repairs and the construction of retaining walls at four locations on Route 169 between Pecwan and Weitchpec in Humboldt County. The $5.4 million allocation includes more than $4.8 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $6.7 million toward the construction of a bridge for fish-passage improvements along Route 254 from south of Maple Hills Road near Phillipsville in Humboldt County. The $6.7 million allocation includes more than $5.9 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $32 million toward roadway improvements and the construction of retaining walls along Route 299 near Willow Creek from East Fork Bridge to east of Cedar Creek Road in Humboldt County. The $32 million allocation includes more than $28 million in federal IIJA funding.

• Approximately $616,000 in support allocations toward roadway, drainage and guardrail upgrades near Albion north of Route 128 to South of Navarro Ridge Road in Mendocino County.

• Approximately $1.9 million in support allocations toward roadway improvements along U.S. 101 from the Hopland Overhead to Mountain House Road near Hopland in Mendocino County.

• Approximately $2.2 million in support allocations toward roadway, guardrail and other improvements along U.S. 101 near Hopland from Felix Creek Bridge to First Street in Mendocino County.

• Approximately $1.8 million in support allocations toward roadway improvements on U.S. 101 from Willits to south of Black Bart Road in Mendocino County.

The CTC also adopted the 2022 California Transportation Asset Management Plan at the meeting.

The plan lays out the needs and investment strategies for Caltrans and its partner agencies to maintain the state’s highway infrastructure — including pavement, bridges and other assets — over the next decade.

California’s plan was the first in the nation to be certified by the Federal Highway Administration. The CTC’s adoption finalizes the plan.

SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared equally between the state and local agencies.

Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of SB 1 funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1.

For more information about transportation projects funded by SB 1, visit http://RebuildingCA.ca.gov.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced federal grants totaling more than $317 million to assist seven jurisdictions that continue to recover and rebuild after the 2018 federally declared disasters, when wildfires burned more than 1.6 million acres and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, particularly in the town of Paradise, in Butte County.

The Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery, or CDBG-DR, funds announced Friday are for foundational infrastructure projects that must be completed as communities work to build and rebuild needed housing, especially housing for low- and moderate-income Californians, and ensure that every household that was displaced in these disasters has the opportunity to return home.

“California remains committed to uplifting and supporting every community impacted by devastating wildfires as they work to rebuild,'' said Gov. Newsom. “Rebuilding after communities are tragically destroyed due to extreme weather is an opportunity to restore economic opportunities and strengthen communities giving them an opportunity to heal.”

In August 2018, the Carr Fire and the Mendocino Complex fire erupted in Northern California, followed in November 2018 by the Camp and Woolsey fires.

These were the most destructive and deadly fires to hit California that year. In total, more than 1.6 million acres burned during 2018.

“We are inspired by residents coming together and working in partnership with the state to rebuild their lives, restore economic opportunities and create a more resilient future,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “These dollars represent a major milestone for communities that withstood unimaginable tragedy because of these devastating wildfires. We will continue to work closely with our federal partners in the Biden Administration to bring resources to communities faster and more equitably when disasters hit.”

Communities were awarded funding based on their unmet infrastructure needs and have the flexibility to use the grants to support projects based on their priorities to rebuild in a safe, sustainable, and resilient way.

The Town of Paradise has been awarded nearly $200 million, which will be used to construct critical projects that will accelerate their capacity to rebuild higher density and more affordable housing, business corridors, and critical evacuation routes in the event they face future disasters.

“Rebuilding together is the foundation of the ongoing recovery effort in the Town of Paradise,” said CA Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez. “This award of nearly $200 million will support critical infrastructure for the Town as it rebuilds with resilience and climate mitigation central to its goals. We remain committed to supporting the residents of Paradise to recover and rebuild.”

CDBG-DR funds are administered by HCD after receiving the federal allocation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the federal CDBG-DR program.

Following is a list of awards announced today:

• Butte County: $72,722,679.61
• City of Chico: $12,388,409.65
• City of Malibu: $47,276.93
• City of Redding: $22,563,043.51
• City of Shasta Lake: $6,326,184.69
• Los Angeles County: $3,788,157.86
• Town of Paradise: $199,592,735.75

Total: $317,428,488
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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, announced Monday the addition of more than 2,500 acres to its demonstration state forest system.

Acquisition of these forested properties increases opportunities for critical research, forest restoration and public recreation.

These two new properties, comprised of 2,246 acres along South Cow Creek in Shasta County and 267 acres in the headwaters of the Bear River in Nevada and Placer counties, were acquired as part of the Pacific Watershed Lands Stewardship Council’s commitment to permanently conserve watershed lands for the public good.

The lands are being donated from Pacific Gas and Electric and will be managed in partnership with the Shasta Land Trust and Bear Yuba Land Trust who will hold conservation easements on the properties.

“The addition of the Cow Creek and Bear River properties to the Cal Fire demonstration state forest system is another exciting chapter in California state forest stewardship,” said Kevin Conway, Cal Fire’s State Forest Program manager. “The properties that currently make up the forest system were first acquired nearly a century ago as clear-cut forests. Since then, we have successfully demonstrated how to re-grow forests, restore habitat, and provide for public recreation, among many other values. These recently acquired acres have not been as extensively logged, and we’re excited to steward these areas for forest health, conservation and restoration, climate and fire resiliency, and the many other values that these special areas provide.”

California’s demonstration state forests serve as a living laboratory for how to care for and manage California’s forest lands for multiple benefits — recreation, watershed protection, wood products and sustainable timber production, and habitat restoration — given a changing climate and increasingly severe and intense wildfire seasons.

The forests provide unique research and demonstration opportunities where environmental scientists, foresters, and other researchers can study the effects of various forest management and restoration techniques to help inform management practices for government, nonprofit and private forestland owners.

“These important additions to our state forest system offer an opportunity to further the valuable research and ecological work underway on California state forestlands while contributing to critical climate goals. Adding these parcels to the California state forest system bolsters Cal Fire’s continued commitment to providing forest landowners and others with timely, relevant information about forest management,” said Cal Fire Deputy Director for Resource Management Matthew Reischman.

Common activities on state forest lands include evaluating sustainable timber harvesting techniques that test current forest practice rules, watershed restoration, a variety of university research projects to help answer pressing forest management questions, and other activities such as cone collecting for seed, and recreation such as mushroom collecting, hunting, firewood gathering, horseback riding, camping, mountain biking and hiking.

Adding these properties follows the 2019 acquisition of the North Fork Mokelumne River property comprising 1,054 acres in Amador County.

In total, Cal Fire will receive seven properties from the Stewardship Council by early 2023 bringing the total acreage of California’s demonstration state forest system to over 84,000 acres statewide. These properties will increase the diversity of forest types under Cal Fire’s stewardship and create new opportunities for research and demonstration of sustainable forestry techniques.

Cal Fire will work collaboratively and closely with the Bear Yuba Land Trust and Shasta Land Trust who hold the conservation easements on these properties to ensure that the scenic, open space, forest, wildlife habitat, recreation, and historic and cultural values are protected forever.

The properties will be stewarded for these multiple uses under a Forest Management Plan to be approved by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.

For more information about California’s demonstration state forests, visit the Cal Fire website.
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NORTH COAST, Calif. — Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit — in collaboration with Sonoma County Regional Parks, the North Sonoma Coast Fire Protection District and the South Coast Fire Protection District in Mendocino County — is planning to conduct pile burns at Gualala Point Regional Park on Aug. 24 to take advantage of cool coastal conditions.

Pile burning will only be conducted during cool weather conditions and with ample fire-suppression resources available at the site.

The fire agencies will provide fire engines and crews to manage the burning process throughout the day, and Regional Parks staff will work in collaboration with the fire agencies.

To reduce smoke and air pollution, we are following best management practices. The burn piles have been cured over several months, reducing the moisture content of the woody material and providing the conditions for a more complete and efficient burn.

The upcoming pile burning at Gualala Regional Park is a continuation of fuels reduction work that began earlier this year with the California Conservation Corps providing the workforce to thin vegetation along the forested windrows and stack the material into burn piles.

This work will help reduce wildfire severity by thinning vegetation to minimize surface and ladder fuels and help protect the remaining trees and adjacent communities from wildfire.

It will also help build and foster collaboration between Parks and fire agency personnel.

For more information about fire safety or controlled burning and its benefits, visit the Cal Fire website at www.fire.ca.gov or call your local Cal Fire facility.
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Highway 16 in Colusa County, California. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

COLUSA COUNTY, Calif. — Caltrans is alerting motorists to expect around-the-clock one-way traffic control next week on State Highway 16 in Colusa County.

Motorists are advised to allow additional travel time when driving on a 7-mile segment of roadway between the Highway 16/Highway 20 junction and the Colusa-Yolo county line.

Construction crews are scheduled to conduct continuous reversing one-way traffic control at various locations from 6 a.m. Monday, Aug. 22, through 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, for pavement work.

From Aug. 29 through the end of October, motorists can expect one-way traffic control in the construction area from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with possible roadwork occurring on Saturdays.

Flaggers will be stationed at each end of the construction zone during traffic control.

The schedule is subject to change due to weather, equipment or material availability or other unexpected events. Knife River Construction of Chico is the contractor for the $6 million paving project.

Caltrans advises motorists to “Be Work Zone Alert.” The department will issue construction updates on Twitter @CaltransDist3 and on Facebook at CaltransDistrict3. For real-time traffic, click on Caltrans’ QuickMap quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the QuickMap app from the App Store or Google Play.


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Artists Laci Dane of Wiyot (front) and Jessica Cherry of Crescent City (back) work from lifts to paint murals on two of the columns of the Samoa Bridge. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.


EUREKA, Calif. — Caltrans and the city of Eureka on Monday kicked off the Samoa Bridge Murals project, part of this year’s annual Eureka Street Art Festival.

The project is made possible through Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, a sweeping $1.1 billion, multiyear cleanup effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create thousands of jobs and engage communities to transform public spaces.

“Eureka’s idea to use Samoa Bridge as a concrete canvas for large-scale murals — art being created over the seven days of the festival by Northern California artists as the public looks on — is truly inspiring, ingenious, inclusive and fun,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “The creative and community-oriented aspects of this Humboldt Bay waterfront project are great examples of what Gov. Newsom had in mind when he launched the Clean California initiative last year and charged Caltrans with its implementation.”

The Samoa Bridge Murals project will adorn four of the land-based columns that support the bridge, which spans Humboldt Bay on State Route 255.

The $307,000 project will simultaneously beautify the recreational area, discourage graffiti, foster local pride, benefit a low-income area and advance plans for future improvements on the waterfront.

“The Clean California initiative has allowed the department to work collaboratively with local communities to beautify areas in ways which have not previously been possible,” said Caltrans District 1 Director Matthew Brady. “This project fulfills a yearslong discussion with our partners in Eureka.”

The murals will be created by California artists Joshua Lawyer of Santa Rosa, Kyle Sanders of Eureka, Laci Dane of Wiyot and Jessica Cherry of Crescent City, all of whom have prior large-scale mural experience.

Caltrans District 1 Clean California Coordinator Julia Peterson offers opening remarks at the Samoa Bridge Murals Kick Off event. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

Artists were chosen through the Eureka Street Art Festival, an annual, weeklong event focused on creating accessible art in public spaces to support community revitalization and attract visitors.

The community is invited to participate in the unique opportunity to interact with artists throughout the week as they create large-scale works of art.

“We are very excited about this project with Caltrans,” said Jenna Catsos, co-founder of the Eureka Street Art Festival. “The community partnerships are one of the best parts of this Festival, and this is allowing us to bring public art to Eureka on a huge scale. These colorful pieces will really brighten the waterfront, and we are pleased to be bringing a great group of artists on for this project."

This project is among 126 Clean California beautification projects worth $312 million designed to transform communities and create connectivity along the state highway system.

Additionally, in March, Gov. Newsom announced 105 Clean California projects statewide funded by nearly $300 million in Clean California local grants to remove litter and transform public spaces in underserved communities. Collectively, these projects are expected to generate 7,200 jobs.

Since launching Clean California in July last year, Caltrans has removed more than 812,000 cubic yards of litter from state highways — the equivalent of 13,000 tons or enough to fill 249 Olympic-size swimming pools — and hired 735 new team members as part of Clean California, including 565 maintenance workers who collect litter and remove graffiti.

For more information, visit CleanCA.com.

The Caltrans event display at the Samoa Bridge Murals Kick Off highlighting the artists chosen for the Clean California State Beautification Project at the Samoa Bridge. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

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6May
05.06.2024 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
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