As we get into the winter driving season, Cal Trans says we’ll find safer roadways, new drought-tolerant landscaping, and smoother pavement on state highways. In Nevada County, agency spokesperson Liza Whitmore touts the Highway 49 re-paving project between Grass Valley and Nevada City that was completed earlier this fall…

click to listen to Liza Whitmore

The other major repaving project completed this summer in this region was Highway 20, between Lower Smartsville Road and Marysville Road. Nearly 130-million dollars worth of highway construction and bridge work was completed this year in Cal Trans District 3. But that’s not as much as it sounds, since that covers 11 counties. Whitmore says there is little or no funding left from the voter-approved transportation bond, Proposition 1B and the Obama Adminstration’s Economic Recovery Act…

click to listen to Liza Whitmore

Cal Trans calls that the “fix-it-first” strategy. Whitmore says the rest of the projects affecting Nevada County this year were fairly small. A new kind of re-striping on Highway 20, between Nevada City and Interstate 80 is also being tried out for its visibility and durability during the winter months.