Caltrans is beginning a 4-year project to repair a remote, mountain highway that winds through the Sierra Nevada, according to sfgate.com.
Teichert Construction of Sacramento is the contractor for the $36.4 million project, according to uniondemocrat.com.
Construction began on Aug. 3 on Highway 4 in Alpine County and will rehabilitate approximately 31.7 mi., including Ebbetts Pass, which according to the U.S. Forest Service, is "one of the most intimate and untamed trans-Sierra routes," sfgate.com reported.
Popular outdoor recreation sites, including Bear Valley, Lake Alpine, Mosquito Lakes and Pacific Valley, also are along the construction route.
Sfgate.com reported that repairing the winding road over Ebbetts Pass, which reaches 8,050 ft., will prove challenging. While the road is mostly a two-lane highway, it narrows into a single lane — that's closed during the winter — at steep and curvy higher elevations
"There are a host of unique challenges facing Caltrans and the contractor when performing work along our scenic mountain pass highways," Caltrans spokesperson Brian Hooker told sfgate.com via email. "Some of those challenges include the steep mountain terrain, narrow highway corridors, potentially short windows for construction based on seasonal weather patterns and also providing accommodations for outdoor recreational activities and local economies which are largely based on tourism."
During the project, crews will replace 66 drainage culverts, seven guardrails, 274 roadside signs and two overhead sign structures, while rehabbing the asphalt concrete., sfgate.com reported.
The rehabilitation includes overlay, dig outs, cold planning, upgrading AC dikes and curbs and constructing shoulder backing., according to the Caltrans project page. The project also proposes to construct a maintenance vehicle pullout on State Route 89 at postmile 10.8.
Funds for the work came from the 2020 State Highway Operation and Protection Program, a California Transportation Commission initiative that provides funding for "preservation, emergency repairs, safety improvements, and some highway operational improvements on the State Highway System."
The project is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2030, according to sfgate.com.
