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Despite its reliance on movement for commerce and quality of life, California has chronically failed to invest in its transportation infrastructure. Indeed, over the last 20 years California's highway capacity has increased by only seven percent while its population increased by 50 percent. This lack of investment not only makes transportation less efficient but also less safe.
Butte County needs to provide a four way freeway connection between State Route 70 and State Route 99 - both of which are four-lanes - in order to eliminate significant safety problems along this two-lane segment of the highway system. The State Route 149 project will provide such a solution to the problem facing the region.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service required that the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) redraw its plans for State Route 149 in order to avoid the Butte County Meadowfoam, a plant which is currently listed as endangered. Because of the proposed realignment, the SR 149 project has incurred a $10 million cost increase and significant delay.
Indeed, since the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and other federal resource agencies will not accept the Environmental Assessment/Initial Study document prepared for SR 149, the project faces a rescheduling that will push the start date back for an additional three years.
Delaying the construction of SR 149 only serves to harm the residents of Butte County and California. The highway is clearly antiquated and in need of improvements and repairs. What's worse is the safety problems that exist today and the fact that a solution - one that will address the regional transportation needs of the region and the environment - could be approved now if not for the meadowfoam. According to reports in the Chico Enterprise Record, approximately 140 people have died in this corridor since 1992.
Unfortunately, the SR 149 is just one example of a larger problem facing California's infrastructure system. Whether it's a bridge project in El Dorado County delayed due to the California red-legged frog or the construction of a new road in Santa Barbara County delayed due to steelhead trout, local jurisdictions are feeling the impact of critical habitat on their ability to complete needed local transportation projects.
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