District: District 3 - Marysville
Contact: Gilbert Mohtes-Chan
Phone: (530) 741-4571
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Butte County — In a major milestone, Caltrans and its partners have marked the completion of a crucial $48.5 million safety project one year early. The project included widening a three-mile stretch State Highway 70 south of Oroville.
The project also created a continuous two-way left turn lane, widened the shoulders to 8 feet, upgraded drainage systems and establish an area for vehicles veering off the roadway to return to the main highway.
Safety is Caltrans’ top priority. This project greatly improves safety along the Highway 70 corridor by providing continuous passing opportunities for vehicles traveling between Ophir Road and Palermo Road,” said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin.
Caltrans and the Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) partnered on the project. It represents the completion of the first of six safety projects in coming years for the Highway 70 corridor between Oroville and Marysville.
More than 17,000 vehicles and an average of 900 trucks per day normally use this segment of SR-70, and with the addition of the Camp Fire debris hauling operation, truck traffic has increased by 1,000 per day. This segment also has experienced a high number of collisions, including fatalities, in the past decade.
Highway 70 is an important artery and economic link between Butte County and the Sacramento area. It was vital that we widened this highway for the safety of motorists
and residents,” said Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly, who also serves as BCAG chairperson.
Teichert Construction was the contractor of record for the project, completing it on budget and a year earlier than scheduled.
Caltrans District 3 maintains more than 4,385 lanes miles of state highway in 11 Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra counties. The department issues updates about road conditions on Twitter and on Facebook. For real-time traffic information, go to QuickMap or download the free Caltrans QuickMap app from the App Store or Google Play.
###