ROADS: Beautification from Gray to Highway 99

ter County, Yuba County, and Marysville, as they are all partners in the project. The actual construction portion of the project will run at $56 million.

The project is divided into four phases, Gale said:

The first phase was improvements and beautification done between Reeves Avenue and Plumas Street, which has been completed.

The second phase is replacing the existing two-lane bridge with four lanes.

The third phase will be the widening of Bridge Street between Reeves and Gray avenues. Gale said all but two properties along that stretch have been purchased by the city, which is tearing the homes down as it acquires ownership. (The Yuba City SWAT team has also been utilizing the empty homes for training exercises.)

“Our goal is to have them demolished as quickly as possible,” Gale said.

The city still has to identify funds for the project, he said. The goal is to widen the stretch either simultaneously with the bridge reconstruction, or soon after.

The final stage is beautification and improvements made from Gray Avenue to Highway 99. Gale said specifics on that phase will be clearer once the widening of Bridge Street gets further along.

The logistics of the bridge project are extensive. Public Works Director Diana Langley recently provided the rundown:

The project is set up so that the contractor will construct a portion of the new bridge, and then shift traffic from the existing bridge to the new, partially-completed bridge. The existing bridge will then be demolished, and the remainder of the new bridge can be constructed.

The existing bridge will be open all during construction, except for short periods of time for hauling of equipment and materials.

The new bridge will be constructed to the north of the existing Fifth Street Bridge but will tie into Yuba City and Marysville at the same intersections as the current bridge. New columns will be constructed to support the new bridge.

The new bridge will put drivers out at the same streets the existing bridge does – in Marysville, drivers will still come off the bridge at the Fifth Street/J Street intersection. In Yuba City, drivers will still come off of the bridge at the Bridge Street/Shasta Street intersection.

Additional roads impacted by construction include Sutter Street and Second Street in Yuba City and Olive Street in Marysville, Langley said.

The railroad bridge is still owned by Union Pacific Railroad and will remain, she said.

Caltrans District 3 spokesman Gilbert Mohtes-Chan said the only work the department is doing in relation to the project is adding a second left turn lane northbound at Fifth Street.

According to a Caltrans press release, the department will be working overnight around Fifth Street and Highway 70 (E Street) and at Highway 20 (10th Street) between the 10th Street Bridge and E Street. There will be overnight lane closures from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Fridays.

In an interview last month with the Appeal-Democrat, Marysville Mayor Ricky Samayoa said the bulk of the work leading up to construction has been done by Yuba City staff, serving as project manager.

But, while the bridge is being completed, he said, Marysville will be doing engineering work for Fifth and Second streets.

“The objective is to look at improving folks’ traveling from Sutter County into Roseville,” Samayoa told the Appeal-Democrat. “Part of it includes tying Second Street to Highway 70.”

Samayoa said some of the work along Fifth Street on the Marysville side will include a bike path and crosswalk; the city envisions the street as a boulevard connecting to the bridge.

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