Regional
- Details
- Written by: California Transportation Commission
The allocation includes more than $452 million in funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and more than $123 million in funding from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
“This allocation – which includes a significant federal investment – allows Caltrans and our local partners to continue building the equitable, sustainable, and safe transportation system on which future generations will depend,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares.
Projects approved this week include:
• Approximately $1.9 million toward roadway, guardrail and culvert repairs along Route 299 west of Three Creek Road near Willow Creek in Humboldt County.
• Approximately $1.1 million toward construction of a left turn lane at Timbers Boulevard, lighting and other roadway improvements along U.S. 101 near Smith River in Del Norte County.
• Approximately $2.6 million toward embankment, guardrail and drainage repairs along U.S. 101 from Water Plant Road to the East Hill Undercrossing near Willits in Mendocino County.
• Approximately $858,000 toward road and guardrail repairs along U.S. 101 from Shimmins Ridge Road to Old Sherwood Road near Willits in Mendocino County.
The CTC allocated more than $2.1 billion to Caltrans' Division of Local Assistance in its annual federal fiscal year investment.
These local assistance funds are used by more than 600 cities, counties and regional agencies throughout California to build and improve roads, bridges, tunnels and other transportation infrastructure, and for projects that enhance safety and help protect the environment.
Annually, more than 1,200 new projects are authorized through the Local Assistance Program.
SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared equally between the state and local agencies.
Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of SB 1 funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1.
For more information about transportation projects funded by SB 1, visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
- Details
- Written by: Caltrans
Rail passengers in Northern California and the Central Valley will start enjoying a more comfortable and modern ride after Caltrans accepted into its fleet the first of seven Siemens Mobility single-level intercity trainsets at the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission facility in Stockton.
“With train ridership recovering from the pandemic drop, these new trainsets will provide Californians with enhanced comfort and convenience as they move around the state,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares.
The new trainsets will operate on the San Joaquin rail corridor between Sacramento/Oakland and Bakersfield, connecting riders to jobs, education and leisure along the way.
Passengers can expect spacious and modern interiors with amenities that include enhanced onboard Wi-Fi with power and USB ports at all seats as well as enlarged windows.
The passenger cars also feature wider aisles and more comfortable seats, additional leg room, larger tray tables and expanded luggage storage options, with oversized baggage and bike racks.
The trains are ADA-accessible, including weatherproof gangways between cars, wider aisles, retractable steps, and state-of-the-art touchless and much larger restrooms. Each coach car seats up to 70 passengers.
“These trainsets were designed with Californians in mind, both in terms of job creation here in Sacramento and next-generation passenger rail throughout the state,” said Michael Cahill, president of Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock in North America. “Together with Caltrans, we’ve created a trainset that is both safe and modern to keep passengers connected and on the move.”
With Caltrans officially taking ownership, the department anticipates the trainsets soon will enter service. These additional trains will help restore service to pre-pandemic levels, resulting in schedule improvements throughout the state’s rail service.
The Venture Trainsets for Caltrans were ordered from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and are being designed and manufactured by Siemens. They are Buy America-compliant and built at the Siemens Mobility rail manufacturing facility in Sacramento.
Powered by the California sun with two megawatts of solar energy and 2,400 employees, the facility has been in operation for more than 30 years.
- Details
- Written by: Cal Fire
The burn will be located near an unnamed ridge west of Magic Mountain Road and south of Kidd Creek in Sonoma County.
This burn will take place along a ridge where Cal Fire has conducted prescribed burning since 2018 to maintain a strategic location to stop or slow an approaching wildfire and reestablish wildfire as a natural disturbance regime.
It is planned to burn approximately 15 acres per day of the State Responsibility Area, or SRA, as part of a vegetation management project that helps treat the forest understory.
Burning is expected to start at 9 a.m. each day and be completed by 4 p.m. each afternoon. Due to the elevation and location, expect smoke to be visible from many parts of Sonoma County including the Windsor area down to Santa Rosa.
The burn and smoke should be visible from the Siri camera on the ALERTCalifornia website.
If traveling in the area, please use caution.
Prescribed burns are carefully planned and must meet strict criteria for ecological benefit, weather parameters, smoke management and fire safety guidelines. The planned operation is subject to lastminute changes due to those considerations.
When all conditions are met, trained wildland firefighters conduct the burn while monitoring the set criteria, fire behavior and designated fire control lines.
The prescribed burn will comply with requirements of the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution
Control District.
To learn more about prescribed fire and its benefits visit https://www.readyforwildfire.org/more/prescribed-fires.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Better known as a “red tide” since it has turned much of the Bay a reddish-brown color, the HAB was first detected in Alameda in late July and has grown to become the largest in the Bay’s recorded history.
Already, the HAB has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of fish, including large sturgeon, sharks, striped bass, bat rays and anchovy.
While this type of HAB is not considered a health threat to humans, it is recommended that people avoid swimming until further notice. The cause of the HAB is still not known.
“It’s very upsetting to see the scale of harm to aquatic life and we know how disturbing this has been for the public,” said Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Regional Water Board. “We are doing everything possible to monitor the situation, work with other agencies and search for solutions.”
At Lake Merritt, which is connected to San Francisco Bay, reports suggest as many as 10,000 fish died in late August.
On Aug. 29, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board staff conducted a field investigation at Lake Merritt, where very low dissolved oxygen levels were measured in the water.
Water samples were collected for identification of algal species and toxins. Updates to this sampling event will be posted on the HAB web map.
CDFW will be conducting both boat and shore-based surveys next week at various locations around San Pablo and Suisun bays.
The goals of these surveys will be to determine the geographic extent of the fish kill, any expansion into new areas, the species affected and the numbers of dead fish on select target species such as white and green sturgeon.
CDFW is also tracking reports from partners and community scientists to determine where fish mortalities are occurring.
Due to the likelihood of increased fish mortalities through the weekend, CDFW is encouraging people who may be recreating on the nearby shorelines in affected areas to report sightings of dead fish through the iNaturalist smartphone app.
The water boards have worked with various agencies, including the City of Oakland, Alameda County, San Mateo County and East Bay Regional Park District to post caution advisory signs near affected waters (e.g., Lake Merritt, the Oakland Estuary, Coyote Point, and Crown Beach) to inform the public to avoid contact with the discolored water caused by the red tide.
For questions specifically related to fish mortalities from this HAB, please contact Jordan Traverso at CDFW at 916-212-7352.
For more information about HABs, please visit Cabs/slifornia Harmful Algal Blooms Portal.
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