California may not widen Highway 41. Fresno leader says widening it will save lives
A potential plan to leave a section of Highway 41 at two lanes drew sharp criticism Wednesday from a group of Fresno-area officials led by Assemblymember Jim Patterson.
The California State Transportation Authority has signaled it may not support widening Highway 41 southeast of Caruthers from two to four lanes, Patterson said.
The six miles of Highway 41 stretches from Elkhorn to Excelsior avenues near the Fresno-Kings county line. The highway is a key connector between Fresno and the Hanford-Lemoore area and on to the Central Coast.
Patterson said state planners apparently believe widening the highway will only encourage more people to get on the road during an era when the state is looking for ways to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, which worsen climate change.
Patterson said 41 was always supposed to be four lanes so pulling the plug on the widening now would be a disservice to people who use that highway.
“We aren’t increasing capacity on Highway 41. We are completing the capacity that’s already there,” Patterson said. “If the state says ‘no,’ they are leaving Central Valley drivers with a dangerous, incomplete highway that has become a death trap. Their denial will cost lives.”
Official said the California State Transportation Agency did not provide a letter of support for the $20 million that Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, is pursuing to complete the roughly $65 million widening.
The letter of support is not necessary to make the project go but was the first sign that state authorities were not supporting the widening, officials said.
Fresno County Transportation Authority Executive Director Mike Leonardo said he spoke on the phone to a Caltrans representative who said the state is not supporting any highway projects that would add capacity.
Leonardo said a widening project in the Madera area got similar treatment.
But, Leonardo and others say the Highway 41 project is about safety. He said local transportation leaders are looking at ways to continue to fund the project.
“We got to try to find some local money to help, but the state has got to step up to the plate,” he said. “They’ve got to provide this additional funding.”
Officials with the state agency said they support improving safety on Highway 41, according to Garin Casaleggio, deputy secretary of communications for the California State Transportation Agency.
Highway 41 is set to get a median barrier to prevent cars from crossing the center line, but that does not include a widening of the roadway, officials said.
“The California State Transportation Agency is fully supportive of Caltrans’ current work to complete the median barrier project on State Route 41, which will immediately address the safety concerns raised by the community,” Casaleggio said in a statement. “Caltrans will begin construction on June 7 and complete this safety project in approximately 60 days to prevent vehicles from passing in the no passing zone.”
‘Death trap’
The stretch of Highway 41 in question has been called a “death trap” by more than one. The highway bottlenecks from four lanes to two.
There were five fatal crashes in the final months of 2020, officials said. Forty-year-old Kenneth Atkins was killed in a head-on crash on his way to Naval Air Station Lemoore in September, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Joel Carillo, 23, was killed in a crash Nov. 10 south of Harlan Avenue near Laton when a wrong-way driver, who may have been DUI, collided with him head-on, CHP said.
In January, construction crews placed a double-yellow stripe down the center of the highway, reflective markers and no-passing signs. A signed detour route parallel to the highway will be available. Some say the measures are not enough.
Advocates for the widening are more than disappointed, according to Lorna Roush, who heads the Widen Highway 41 Movement, including a Facebook page for that cause.
“Disappointment is a very small word right now for me with this,” she said. “This isn’t a capacity issue, this is a finish issue. Finish our road.”
This story was corrected from an earlier version.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 10:56 AM.
