"That's still the deadline, and we think we can meet it," Morales said. "What we're hearing from the contractors is that they believe they can meet that schedule."

Later this month, the authority will be holding industry forums to gauge the interest of potential prime contractors and small-business subcontractors on future portions of the Madera-to-Bakersfield route.

"There will be different pieces going at different times," Morales said. "It all has to tie together, and in the time frame to get it done on time."

He added that construction on different portions of the route will be happening at the same time up and down the Valley instead of only one section at a time.

Residents feel hurried

The Highway 99 work is included in the Merced-to-Fresno section, for which environmental reports were certified in May. But a handful of Kings County residents made the trip to Sacramento on Thursday to complain about the release of a revised draft environmental report for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield section.

The report was originally issued a year ago but was recalled in the fall so revisions could be made. The revised report was reissued in mid-July, and the public has until Sept. 20 to submit comments on the document and its technical attachments -- more than 30,000 pages in all.

Frank Oliveira, a Hanford farmer, and others who spoke during a public-comment period said the 60 days allowed for the public to review and comment on the new Fresno-to-Bakersfield report is not enough.

"Sixty days is unreasonable if you really want public participation," Oliveira said. "We request 180 days, or 120 days if the state would make the documents more readily available to the public."

Oliveira said a person would have to read hundreds of pages a day, seven days a week, to slog through the mass of documents. But, he added, there are only 10 locations in Kings County, including public libraries, where the report is available to read. None are open on weekends, he said, and most are open during regular business hours, limiting the opportunities for review.

Public hearings on the revised environmental report are scheduled for late August in Bakersfield, Hanford and Fresno.