Caltrans completes Dry Creek Bridge project
Oct. 7—After more than two years of construction, the Dry Creek Bridge renovation project in Yuba County has been completed, offering drivers more space on a previously narrow road and bridge.
Officials with Caltrans held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday to commemorate the completion of the project on Highway 20 in Browns Valley, along with other road projects that concurrently developed.
The Browns Valley project is the last of five major projects to be completed along Highway 20, said Caltrans Project Manager Johnny Tan. The five-mile section between Marysville Road and Timbuctoo Place was renovated and rehabilitated in order to provide wider lanes and shoulders to give commercial and recreational drivers more space to travel and pull off from the road.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kip Schilhabel said that the increased space on the shoulders will make it safer to pull over drivers and provide assistance during an emergency.
Other renovations include long-lasting, smoother pavement, upgraded facility standards, truck climbing walls, a wildlife undercrossing and increased sight distance for motorists, officials said.
A turning lane was also added near the bridge to allow for safer ingress and egress into the road.
Highway 20 serves as an interregional economic route in Northern California. Each day over 8,000 vehicles including 500 commercial trucks travel on this road through the eastern Yuba County area, officials said.
"This road is now yours to enjoy," said Caltrans District 3 Director Amarjeet Benipal.
The $65.5 million dollar project included nearly $5 million in funding from the 2017 Road Repair and Accountability Act which was established with the goal of repairing roads, improving traffic safety and expanding public transit systems across California. Rocco Davis, a commissioner with the California Transportation Commission, said that this funding is allocated on a "fix it first" basis for projects across the state
Davis said that completing projects like Dry Creek Bridge help the state to repair pre-existing infrastructure in different areas.
"A large part of why we fund projects like this is to make sure that rural areas don't get left behind," Davis said.
State Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, was present at the ceremony to congratulate Caltrans on completing its road infrastructure projects.
"It's wonderful to see the success of a project that we're in the throes of and seeing how this road will keep people safer. Praise is worthy here today," Nielsen said.
The Dry Creek Bridge project is the last of five major highway projects along the corridor between Marysville and the Yuba-Nevada county line that Caltrans has completed over the past three years. The cost of these projects totaled more than $184 million, but over $10 million was allocated to these projects as part of the Road Repair and Accountability Act, officials said.
These projects include the construction of new bridges in Smartsville and Timbuctoo.
