Sonora, CA — The Tuolumne County Supervisors had already been planning to use set aside future road dollars to reconstruct and make ADA improvements along Standard Road, and today the board decided to additionally widen the road and add a bike lane.
The initial work, estimated to cost $1.66 million, was tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2023. The revised project, widening the road, and adding a Class II bike lane, will cost $6.6-million, and be completed by 2027.
The supervisors unanimously agreed that public safety would improve greatly by widening the road, and the bike lane can be utilized as an emergency third lane in the event of mass evacuations due to a wildfire.
The board noted that Standard Road is one of the few north-south connectors in the county, it has various businesses situated on it, Curtis Creek Elementary is along it, and there are plans for an eventual housing subdivision, already approved, near Standard Park.
In approving the revised plan, the board also directed staff to investigate available grant funding, since a school is located on Standard Road, to potentially help move the project along quicker. The supervisors stressed that road revenue for projects like this comes from the state, and it is not General Fund dollars.
The supervisors are planning to discuss General Fund shortfalls, related to this year and next, this afternoon.
Written by BJ Hansen.
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