Leaders celebrate completion of Estrella River bridges
Fix 46 Committee Chairperson Mary Chambers leads the crowd in a ribbon cutting ceremony signifying the official completion of the new Estrella River Bridges on Highway 46 East.
Ribbon cutting ceremony brings out representatives from various county and state agencies
Representatives from the San Luis Obispo County Council of Governments, the City of Paso Robles, the California Highway Patrol and other agencies were on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon as Caltrans announced the completed construction of the new Estrella River Bridges on Highway 46 East near Whitley Gardens, just outside of the Paso Robles city limits.
Onlookers cheer on the owners of a classic car as it makes its way across the bridge after the ribbon cutting ceremony.
SLO County Supervisor Frank Mecham, Paso Robles Mayor Duane Picanco, SLOCOG’s Ron DeCarli, and others addressed the crowd before Fix 46 Committee Chairperson Mary Chambers cut the ribbon to signify the official completion of the bridges. Chambers has lobbied for nearly twenty years to help bring about changes along the highway. Following the ribbon cutting, CHP officers escorted several classic cars across the bridges.
The new bridges, measuring 1,000 feet long and 100 feet high, replace the original bridge built around 1955. They are part of a major, multi-phase $265 million Caltrans project to upgrade 15 miles of of the road from a two lane highway to a four lane expressway between Paso Robles and Shandon.
“The widening of this important transportation corridor linking the Central Valley and the Central Coast will reduce congestion and improve safety for thousands of commuters, tourists and the agricultural industry who rely on this highway,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.
46 East project
- Phase One: Widened Hwy 46 East between Airport Road and Geneseo Road; work was completed in 2010.
- Phase Two: Caltrans is widening Hwy 46 East between Geneseo Road and Almond Drive; work will be finished this fall. The $80 million project received $50 million from Proposition 1B, a transportation bond approved by voters in 2006. To date, more than $17 billion in Proposition 1B funds have been put to work statewide for transportation purposes.
- Phase Three: Consists of widening Hwy from Almond Drive to McMillan Canyon Road; work is now underway and will be finished by May 2015.
- In January 2016, Caltrans is scheduled to begin widening the final section of the highway from McMillan Canyon Road to the Shandon Roadside Rest Area; construction is scheduled to be completed by October 2018.
CHP officers escort several classic cars on Wednesday afternoon. They are the first to travel across and help announce the official completion of the Estrella River Bridges.
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