THE OPEN FORUM
The Caltrans proposed Highway 70 Safety Project to eventually widen to 5 lanes will affect current roadway from the Butte County line to Laurellen Road, in District 10, north of Marysville. The project will include one 14’ continuous left turn lane in the middle.
This is reality. The considerably increased traffic will threaten the rural agricultural District 10, and will dump all that additional traffic into Marysville at the high school. With Highway 20 coming from Yuba City and from Grass Valley plus north and southbound traffic from 70, it will be a huge big mess, with 13 stoplights throughout the Hwy 70 stretch in town. Check out 9th and B St, 14th and B St, and how about 12th and B St, 5th and E St!
Going any direction in Marysville, you already have a long wait to go anywhere!
Noise? Congestion? Pollution? Westbound on 20 collides with north and southbound on 70 slowing
snaking through town. East bound on 20 hits 70 in Marysville and we crawl through our “Gateway to the Goldfields” to get to Sacramento, or to the north state, or eastward to the Yuba foothills. Commuters and freight trucks, buses don’t want to stop and shop! Our schools and Senior Citizen’s facilities will be in more noise and pollution. Something must be done! Traffic will only become worse through our fair town. Our pioneer town planners wished all roads to lead to Marysville to help it to become a hub for commerce, with railroads and all roads going through it. That was a wonderfully smart idea to start a town in a wide open landscape back then. Well, that was a century ago, and maybe it is time to protect our “Gateway to the Goldfields” and build a bypass around it, much like the Sheridan-lincoln bypass, and watch our town prosper as a wanted tourist destination and shopping mecca instead of a bumperto- bumper commuter and truck route!
Lincoln has prospered and Marysville can too, if given the chance. Our “Gateway to the Goldfields” can become, like Lincoln, Willits, and Nevada City, a quaint, old-fashioned, wholesome and beautiful environment to draw tourists and keep motorists interested rather than have them reluctantly crawl through an unwanted wait. We have a myriad of shops on historic D Street, restaurants and fast-food places, antique stores, a beautiful lake in the middle of our town, Riverfront Park, Bok Kai Temple, Mary Aaron Museum, beautiful historic homes and buildings, plus we offer many parades, events, and celebrations to draw folks.
Let’s be proactive and save our communties, Marysville and District 10. For questions, contact Keep 70 Safe Committee at 530548-5233 or facebook.com/keep70safe for more information.
Pam Shaver