Amador County - Caltrans announced Thursday it will hold a community workshop to gather local input on a long range plan it is developing for Highway 49.

Also known as the “Golden Chain Highway,” Highway 49 originates in Oakhurst in Madera County and ends near Vinton in Plumas County, passing through Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties on the way. It is considered the primary roadway connecting the communities of the central Sierra Nevada foothills.

According to Caltrans, they will hold community outreach meetings to gather input for a Transportation Concept Report (TCR), a “long range planning document that identifies concepts for how the corridor will be developed and managed over a 20-year period.”

The TCR is developed to review current and future traffic conditions and land use; consider transportation alternatives such as transit services, bicycle and pedestrian; identify planned projects and recommend future improvements; and determine a route concept.

The agency says “safety, mobility and capacity” are currently major issues on the corridor. These concerns include congestion in local communities, encroachment on state highways, a lack of cost-effective transit services, and a lack of a consistent network of pedestrian and bike paths that link communities and visitor attractions.

The development of the TCR is linked to a number of recently approved planning efforts or efforts in progress both in Amador and neighboring counties, including the Amador County 2004 RTP Update, the Amador County Blueprint, and the Amador County General Plan Update.

The local TCR community workshop takes place November 3rd from 6-8 pm at the American Legion Hall, 12134 Airport Road in Martell. For more information, contact Lynn O’Connor, Chief of the Office of System and Advanced Planning at (209) 948-3975.

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.