Major changes are coming to Highway 99 in southwest Fresno, including more lanes and pedestrian bridges.
The changes were approved by the Fresno City Council on Thursday.
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Driving the news: The council approved an agreement with Caltrans for the State Route 99, El Dorado to Clinton Rehabilitation project.
- The agreement was approved on a 6-0 vote by the council with no discussion. Councilmember Mike Karbassi was absent.
The big picture: The project will replace much of the existing asphalt covering the lanes from El Dorado St. in the south to Clinton Ave. in the north – a total of 3.2 miles of road.
- The current asphalt has been there for more than 50 years, making those lanes costly to repair.
- Thursday’s agreement will not cost the city any more money. Caltrans has already secured the $400 million necessary to complete the project.
- Caltrans expects construction to run from late 2024 to early 2029.
Go deeper: Along with bringing the lanes up to date with long-lasting concrete pavement, the project will add auxiliary lanes and make it possible to expand the highway in that section to eight lanes in the future.
- A new interchange will be constructed at Olive Ave. that will have roundabouts on each side of the freeway to connect the entrance and exit ramps.
- Caltrans will remove the entrance and exit ramps at McKinley Ave. and Belmont Ave. without replacing them.
- The project will see four overcrossing bridges at El Dorado, the railroad, Belmont and Olive be replaced. Three undercrossing bridges at Nielsen and McKinley will be replaced, and the Teilman/Pacific overcrossing bridge will be removed.
- A Roeding Park sound wall will also be installed that will be decorated with art of zoo animals.
