Latest news with #Caltrans'
CBS News
2 days ago
- Automotive
- CBS News
Eastbound Highway 50 to close in West Sacramento over Father's Day weekend for construction
SACRAMENTO – Starting Friday night, eastbound Highway 50 in West Sacramento will be closed through Father's Day weekend for the ongoing pavement rehabilitation project. Caltrans said the eastbound closure will be from the Interstate 80 and Highway 50 split to Jefferson Boulevard from 9 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Tuesday. The closure will impact people commuting from Davis to attend the UC Davis commencement at the Golden 1 Center. The Athletics, who are out of town for the weekend, will be hosting the Houston Astros on Monday at 7:05 p.m. at Sutter Health Park. Over in Sacramento, the eastbound Highway 50 ramp to southbound Highway 99 will be closed for 55 hours, from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. This is part of Caltrans' Fix50 project. Caltrans said drivers can take southbound Interstate 5 as a detour. Another option is to exit at 10th Street, turn left onto Riverside Boulevard, turn left on X Street and get onto westbound Highway 50 to merge onto southbound Highway 99. How to get around the Highway 50 closure Drivers heading east on Highway 50 will need to merge onto eastbound Interstate 80, take southbound I-5 back to eastbound Highway 50. Eastbound Highway 50 will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Tuesday. Caltrans Fans heading to Sutter Health Park can take I-80 to southbound I-5 and merge onto westbound Highway 50 before taking the South River Road exit. Those attending the UC Davis commencement can exit I-5 at J Street in downtown Sacramento to arrive at the Golden 1 Center. All drivers are urged to build in additional travel time. Why is Highway 50 closing? Caltrans is working on the $280 million I-80 and Highway 50 pavement rehabilitation project. The extended closure is to help speed up the project's duration and improve workers' safety. A spokesperson for Caltrans said crews are replacing 30- to 40-year-old concrete. Among other upgrades, the project will rehabilitate ramps, upgrade existing barriers and guardrails to concrete barriers, rehabilitate bridge decks and replace overhead sign structures. Caltrans' website estimates construction will be complete in May 2026. The transportation department's Fix 50 project, which includes work from the Highway 50/I-5 interchange to Highway 50/Watt Avenue, was pushed back an entire year. It's now scheduled to be complete in July 2026.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Fresno community groups score another victory with appeals court ruling
For several decades, south Fresno residents were powerless in preventing polluting industries and distribution centers from getting shoved down their throats – regardless of the deleterious effects on their health. Recently they've been fighting back. And in an increasing number of cases, fighting back and winning. The latest example came in March when a state appeals court sided with community groups in their ongoing legal battle with Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration over major expansions of the North Avenue and American Avenue freeway interchanges on Highway 99. The appellate court granted a petition submitted in November by Friends of Calwa Inc. and Fresno Building Healthy Communities that should – without wading too deep into the legal muck – finally compel Caltrans to justify its environmental review for the $140 million project. Opinion The same environmental review which, as you may recall, conveniently left out Fresno County's proposed 2,940-acre industrial park east of 99 that can't proceed without improved freeway access and will unquestionably bring more air pollution and truck traffic to already overburdened neighborhoods. In fact, Caltrans' analysis of the interchange expansion claimed there were no communities in the project area that would be impacted. Completely disregarding tens of thousands of south Fresno residents who live within breathing distance. Such glaring omissions triggered Friends of Calwa and Fresno BHC in March 2023 to file a lawsuit against Caltrans and FHA in federal district court over the agencies' approval of the project that challenged the legality of the environmental review under state and federal laws. Rather than defend its shoddy work, Caltrans restored to legal tactics intended to price out the opposition (i.e. cross-filing the federal suit in state court) and bickered over technicalities. In October, it scored a temporary victory when a Fresno Superior Court judge granted Caltrans' motion for summary adjudication to throw out any claims against the California Environmental Quality Act because the community groups filed their arguments too late. Last month's California Fifth Appellate Court decision put an end to that nonsense. It ordered the Fresno Superior Court to vacate its October ruling and conduct further hearings to determine whether Caltrans' environmental review violated state law. Now, at last, we might get somewhere. Michael Claiborne, directing attorney for Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, one of the legal firms representing Friends of Calwa and Fresno BHC, said writs of mandate that seek review of a lower court's order are 'rarely granted.' 'My understanding is that more than 90% of petitions like this are denied,' Claiborne said. 'This is extraordinary relief reversing an order by the Superior Court prior to final judgment.' This ruling, it must be noted, does not prevent Caltrans from expanding and improving the 99 freeway interchanges at North and American avenues. Nor was that the groups' ultimate aim. Friends of Calwa and Fresno BHC simply wanted the project's environmental review to adhere to state and federal law – and for a massive industrial park near the freeway whose traffic will utilize those exits to be included in the study. Neither request is unreasonable. Not when the negative public health effects of air pollution, including how noxious gas compounds disperse over wide areas, are well-established science. 'The communities of Calwa and Malaga are frustrated and tired of being treated as a dumping ground,' said Laura Moreno, executive director of Friends of Calwa. 'Our neighborhoods deserve transportation projects that don't completely disregard the needs of the people who live here.' The appeals court decision is the latest in a string of victories by south Fresno residents and their legal teams against the actions of government agencies and municipalities, and the second involving the inadequacy of environmental reviews. Last August, the same state appeals court ruled in favor of a group called the South Fresno Community Alliance in a lawsuit that successfully challenged the adequacy of the environmental review process the City of Fresno uses for new construction. Dozens of projects throughout the city were reportedly halted as a result. Though not in the legal arena, the string of victories by south Fresno residents and community groups includes the rejection of the Measure C transportation tax extension in the November 2022 election. And going back a few more years, the successful Measure P parks tax. Among the powers-that-be, this recent shift has caused no small amount of consternation. For example, Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi accused law firms like Leadership Counsel of 'economic terrorism' and questioned the motives of 'some people' opposed to the 99 interchange expansion. 'This is straight up about killing economic development in Fresno – that is the goal,' Karbassi said during a December 2023 council meeting. Instead of making silly statements, why not create economic development that doesn't ignore state and federal laws and worsen living conditions in marginalized neighborhoods? Is that too much to ask? 'What Caltrans did was illegal – that's what the (appeals) court said,' Moreno said. 'Now we're hoping for them to fix it. Caltrans can still make this right.' Those don't sound like the words of someone who wants to kill economic development. They sound like someone looking for a solution. Perhaps that's why south Fresno residents are fighting back, and winning.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Main road into Yosemite National Park closed after rain triggers rockslide
After several recent rains, a main highway into Yosemite National Park is closed indefinitely due to a rockslide, state officials said. About a two-mile stretch of Route 140 between Briceburg and El Portal leading into the park is closed after wet weather caused rocks to fall onto the road in a narrow canyon, SFGate reported. In the last few weeks, California has been hit with repeated storms that have dumped feet of snow in the mountains and created debris flows and rockslides on highways across the state. In a Facebook post, the California Highway Patrol suggested motorists use State Routes 41 and 120 as alternatives to enter Yosemite. No timeline for the cleanup was provided, as the crew needs to access the hillside and clear the debris. For real-time information on the roads, download Caltrans' QuickMap app. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
19-03-2025
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Main road into Yosemite National Park closed after rain triggers rockslide
After several recent rains, a main highway into Yosemite National Park is closed indefinitely due to a rockslide, state officials said. About a two-mile stretch of Route 140 between Briceburg and El Portal leading into the park is closed after wet weather caused rocks to fall onto the road in a narrow canyon, SFGate reported. In the last few weeks, California has been hit with repeated storms that have dumped feet of snow in the mountains and created debris flows and rockslides on highways across the state. In a Facebook post, the California Highway Patrol suggested motorists use State Routes 41 and 120 as alternatives to enter Yosemite. No timeline for the cleanup was provided, as the crew needs to access the hillside and clear the debris. For real-time information on the roads, download Caltrans' QuickMap app.
CBS News
05-03-2025
- CBS News
City of Stockton concerned over tunnel dug into side of Crosstown Freeway overpass
STOCKTON — The City of Stockton is concerned over a hole being dug into the side of a Crosstown Freeway overpass. Along Highway 4, which runs through the heart of the city, a hole has been dug into the side of the overpass. The city says CalTrans oversees all of the state's highways and their infrastructure, so they want to know what it would take for them to clean it up. Vice Mayor Jason Lee described photos of the hole, which is right along Garfield Street in the central city and is the size of a person, as disturbing to see. "This was just something straight out of the Goonies movie, but we need our state partners to step up and find out what's happening," Lee said. Lee responded to posts of these photos on Facebook. "The public is the perfect partner to help the city know how to address the things that we see or that they see out there that are happening," he said. We spoke with the man who claims responsibility for the hole. He did not want to be identified but told us the hole was a fire pit. The City of Stockton's land is divided by a fence line that's been ripped apart. On the other side of the fence, it's Caltrans' jurisdiction. "The homeless encampments, the trash along the highways, that is the state's responsibility. We've been in a whole experience with Caltrans and now engaging with CHP to help us clean up our freeways," Lee said. Last year, CBS13 gained access to a cave system dug in Modesto. There was furniture inside and living space. It became a safety concern for Modesto and something Lee doesn't want to happen in Stockton. He wants homeless people in housing and able to get help if they want it. "That starts with understanding how we address some of these challenges. I'm not familiar with what was happening in Modesto, but I don't want what was happening in Modesto happening here," he said. CalTrans District 10, which oversees San Joaquin County, said it is working on a response tp provide us but could not get it to us in time for this story.
