Highway 99 improvements accelerate
SACRAMENTO
March 15, 2007
11:54am
• Will cost $1 Billion
• Widening is a major goal
The “Main Street” of the Central Valley, the venerable Highway 99, will get a massive makeover under projects approved Thursday by the California Transportation Commission.
The projects, stretching from the Bakersfield area to Chico will cost $1 billion in state bond money.
Calling Highway 99 the “backbone of our state's transportation system,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the commission for its action.
“Their vote shows the people that we are working to use the bond funds quickly, efficiently and prudently,” the governor says.
The various projects will stretch into the next decade before they are completed.
In many cases, the freeway will be widened from four to six lanes. In other cases, such as around Madera and Merced, what is now an expressway will be rebuilt into a full-fledged freeway.
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