Caltrans Announces Series Of Changes To Improve Highway 49

NEVADA COUNTY (CBS 13) - A deadly stretch of road in Nevada County is finally getting updates to save the lives of local drivers. Caltrans announced ten projects on Tuesday aimed at improving safety for drivers on the road.

“We got about a mile and a half up the road, and we were hit head on,” said Bruce Jones, describing an accident from 2003.

He and his wife, Deborah, were driving on Highway 49 when an oncoming car drifted into their lane and smashed into the driver’s side.

“I thought ‘I just got married two years ago and now I’m going lose this woman,’” Jones said.

“When we got hit, I just remember saying to myself ‘Oh, no!’” Deborah recalled. “And that was it. And then I was out. I just remember the pain because my sternum was fractured, my ribs were broken.”

California Highway Patrol responds to an average of one collision on Highway 49 every three days. A total of 21 people have died on the dangerous road in the last 10 years.

“We’ve been working on this corridor for a long period of time,” said Tom Brannon, Deputy District 3 Director for Program Project Management with CalTrans. “Safety is always our top priority.”

Ten projects are planned along Highway 49, from Auburn to Grass Valley. They include upgrading lighting, installing rumble strips, widening parts of the road, and installing acceleration lanes.

“Each one of those projects answers a specific need,” Brannon said.

The total cost is more than $40 million and some projects are scheduled to finish as soon as 2018.

“I’m impressed with the timetable,” Jones said.

But beyond the existing projects, Caltrans wants to add another lane in each direction, a center median, and roundabouts at every mile marker.

“Couldn’t tell you how much that will cost or how long it will take, but we’re going to start exploring that idea,” Brannon explained.

And while Deborah doesn’t know if roundabouts will help, she’ll support every effort to save the drivers traveling through their area.