California storms’ road toll: $600M

FRESNO, Calif. — The bill to repair California roadways hammered by floods and rock slides in an onslaught of storms this winter has reached nearly $600 million, more than double what the state budgeted for such emergencies, and the costs are mounting for other badly damaged infrastructure just two months into 2017.

Recent storms buckled a section of highway in the Sierra Nevada between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe, causing the shoulder to collapse. Repairs are estimated at $6.5 million. In the scenic Yosemite Valley, only one of three main routes through the national park’s major attraction is open because of damage or fear the road could give out from cracks and seeping water, rangers said.

On the rain-soaked coast in Central California, the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge in Big Sur has crumble beyond repair, blocking passage on the north-south California 1 route for up to a year. Until it is rebuilt, visitors can drive up to view the coastline, then turn back.

Rebuilding an entire section of highway running through the Santa Cruz Mountains that washed out is estimated to be one of the state’s most expensive road projects so far this year with a $15 million price tag.

California officials say they have not put a final price tag on damage to other infrastructure this year, including repairs at Oroville Dam, the nation’s tallest, whose spillways threatened to collapse and flood communities downstream. Early estimates put the fixes there at $200 million.

Emergency crews are still busy making repairs statewide, and they will tally the costs once things dry out.

“We have so many disasters going on at one time,” said Kelly Huston of the California Office of Emergency Services. “We’re not at a point where we can give a good dollar amount.”

To cover the shortfall for emergency repairs, Caltrans, the agency responsible for maintaining California’s highways, roads and overpasses, will ask the California Transportation Commission for more money, spokesman Vanessa Wiseman said.