California: Roads and car fumes are more important than trees and clean air

There are 342 redwood trees along the stretch, between Steele Lane in
Santa Rosa and Windsor River Road in Windsor, that will be removed
beginning Monday. The construction will entail adding car-pool lanes
in the median strip of the existing freeway and rebuilding some
bridges where the highway crosses over creeks. It will be completed in
half the time that Caltrans initially allotted because crews will be
working nights and weekends, said Randall Husch, Jones’ project
manager.

Jones was the low bidder, at $77.8 million, to add the
car-pool lanes, a project that is scheduled for completion by late
summer or early fall of next year. The state’s share of the money,
$61.3 million, has been allocated and is not in jeopardy of being
suspended. Until the Legislature resolves what is being forecast as a
$40 billion state budget deficit, however, awarding the contract for
Sonoma County’s next highway project is being held up. That project is
the replacement of the Wilfred Avenue interchange and freeway widening
from Santa Rosa Avenue to the Rohnert Park Expressway. Ghilotti
Brothers is the low bidder at $38 million, a third less than the $56
million construction cost estimated by Caltrans. “It’s disappointing
and frustrating that with all the talk about jobs and the need for
economic stimulus, that we have a project that would create a number
of jobs and yet it is being held up and we can’t get it started when
we want to,” Smith said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090108/NEWS/901080322/1033?Title=Work_to_widen_Highway_101_gets_under_way_despite_deficit

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