SACRAMENTO – Today, the California State Legislature passed the 2017-18 State Budget, which includes funding for reconstruction of the Yolo County Road 40 (CR 40) low water bridge. Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) secured $800,000 in the budget to fund critical repairs to the crumbling bridge infrastructure and bolster public safety in Yolo, Napa, and Lake Counties.
“No one in the middle of an emergency situation wants to hear that the response team is delayed due to an over 50-mile detour. Replacing this critical connection to northern Yolo County, and Lake and Napa Counties is a public safety necessity,” said Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. “The CR 40 low water bridge repair has been one of my top priorities, and I am thrilled to see the Legislature’s support to help us restore this crumbling infrastructure.”
The CR 40 Bridge is currently over 100 years old and is structurally deficient, leading to its closure in 2009. The bridge served as one of the main connectors between the more rural areas of Lake, Napa and Yolo counties. With the recent outbreak of wildfires in 2015, CALFIRE was forced to make a fifty-mile detour to reach the fire areas, resulting in the loss of precious hours in that emergency response effort. Yolo County identified repairs to the bridge as a vital public safety investment due to the severe fire threat in the region.
“The 2015 Rocky Fire was one of several wildfires in the past few years to have caused tremendous damage in both my Senate and former Assembly district,” said Senator Bill Dodd. “These funds are critical in being able to provide our first responders with the adequate transportation needs in the event of an emergency. Restoring this bridge is necessary to ensure the safety of our rural communities in Yolo, Lake, and Napa counties.”
“I would like to thank Senator Dodd and Assemblywoman Aguiar-Curry for securing this initial funding for the Low Water Bridge,” said Duane Chamberlain, Yolo County Supervisor. “This funding is important to cover the costs of environmental and engineering work needed before we can build a bridge to provide fire safety for the folks in the Capay Valley. I am hopeful that we can secure additional funding next year to build this bridge. It is imperative that the bridge be built. We have a lot of fire danger these days and we need to have our infrastructure in place to fight fires and keep people safe.”
This legislation has been sent to the Governor for approval, where he will have two weeks to sign or veto the budget allocation for the bridge.