Sacramento, CA — Typically, Caltrans crews aim to have the Sierra Nevada seasonal mountain passes open by at least Memorial Day weekend.
Mother Lode District Four Republican Senator Marie Alvarado Gil would like to see it moved up by a couple of weeks.
On Mother Lode Views this past weekend, she stated, “I’m moving forward with a piece of legislation that asks for Caltrans to give us an opportunity to open these passes by Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day in May will give us an opportunity for people to plan, for us to staff our businesses, for us to promote the opening of these businesses, and to have real reliability around that economic driver, which are these mountain passes.”
Caltrans oversees Highway 108 Sonora Pass, Highway 4 Ebbetts Pass, and Highway 89 Monitor Pass.
It would be more of a goal, and not a guarantee, as Alvarado-Gil says, “We all understand that we cannot control the weather. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature. However, there are things that we can do at the state level. Make sure that our equipment is working, make sure that we are fully staffed, and make sure that we have a plan to ensure that we can maximize opening these passes.”
The opening of Sonora Pass would also correlate with the Mother Lode Roundup, which is held on Mother’s Day weekend, and the opening of Highway 4 Ebbetts Pass would happen shortly before the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee.
It was one of the topics that Alvarado-Gil discussed on Mother Lode Views this past weekend. Click here to find the full show. She also spoke about regional topics like efforts to turn J-59 into a state highway and how the Murphys Median project is spurring a proposed new bill related to “elevating best practices” and making sure that Caltrans is working with local businesses and residents ahead of projects.
