Highway 99 in Fresno would be choked with truck traffic if expanded, lawsuit says
A controversial plan by Caltrans to expand Highway 99 in south Fresno could get quashed if opponents prevail in a lawsuit set to be heard in court on Friday.
Caltrans announced the expansion in February 2023, which has been met with strong opposition, including a lawsuit, from worried residents and community organizations. They say the project’s environmental review violated state and federal laws and would increase truck traffic and pollution in neighborhoods already overburdened by poor air quality and environmental injustices.
“We want Caltrans to honor our lives and to honor our communities,” Sandra Celedon, president and CEO of BHC Fresno, said at a Wednesday press conference.
The $140 million expansion known as the South Fresno State Route 99 Corridor project would reconstruct two interchanges on American Avenue and North Avenue. The interchanges would be converted from half to full interchanges, thereby connecting Highway 99 to local roadways in the small communities of Calwa and Malaga just south of Fresno.
Opponents fear it will lead to the build-out of more industrial-zoned land.
“It deprives kids from going outside and playing and just having a childhood that other kids would have,” Milena Alvarez, an organizer with Friends of Calwa, said. “Just being able to be at their homes comfortably without being worried about all the pollution, all the ozone going into their communities.”
The potential expansion occurs against a backdrop of discriminatory land use and transportation practices that date back to when Highway 99 was first built in the 1950s, cutting a line through south Fresno. This divided the western portion from the commercial and economic resources of downtown while expanding the flow of truck traffic and its accompanying pollution into local neighborhoods.
Residents in south and southwest Fresno, where Calwa and Malaga are located, can live up to 20 years less than those in the north areas due to those impacts, according to a study published in 2018 by the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Association for Public Health Statistics.
Caltrans’ website states that the purpose of the project is to bring the interchanges up to current standards and to improve traffic operations. It also says the project would result in lower air emissions on the local road system and improved access for businesses in the project area.
Construction is set to begin in September 2028 and be completed by March 2031.
Lawsuit says Highway 99 expansion violates the California Environmental Quality Act
Shortly after the project was announced in 2023, Friends of Calwa and Fresno Building Healthy Communities filed suit in the federal Eastern District court of California to force Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration to redo the project’s environmental impact report.
The lawsuit argues that Caltrans’ review of the project “fell significantly short” and violated the California Environmental Quality Act because its environmental impact report “failed to acknowledge the existence of any impacted communities or sensitive receptors.”
A judge ruled to stop a Costco project in northwest Fresno under similar circumstances in May 2024.
When Caltrans first approached the communities of Calwa and Malaga about the potential project, representatives said they aimed to make simple safety improvements for the interchanges, according to Celedon.
Most residents were on board, but wanted to ensure it would not be used to grow truck traffic, Celedon said.
When the project plans were later published, they included the intent to expand the lanes from two, to four or six lanes.
“It was really clear to us that Caltrans failed to hear the concerns about this project,” Celedon said.
“Residents want their neighborhood streets improved,” she said. “They want their air cleaned, they want to see more investment in their communities, and they welcome Caltrans to invest in their neighborhoods. But this case is really about who gets investments and who gets protected and who gets heard.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM.