Bypass Issue Added To Supervisors’ Tuesday Agenda

Supervisors could pave the way for the actual opening of the East Sonora Expressway at their meeting this morning, a week earlier than anticipated.

Under consideration is the agreement to transfer the control of the bypassed portion of Mono Way from the state´s to Tuolumne County´s jurisdiction.

CalTrans held up the opening last Tuesday because the agreement hadn´t been finalized yet.

Officials at the office of the supervisors say that the County Administrator´s Office called on Friday afternoon and added the item to today´s agenda.

Tina Walker from CalTrans says that if supervisors approve the revised agreement this morning, the last stripes will be painted and the traffic signals turned on, but there´s a narrow window of opportunity for this week.

“We don´t typically like to turn a signal on prior to a weekend, or actually between Thursday and Tuesday, because we like to have local transportation familiar with the signal, and we don´t like to throw something new into the driving experience during weekends when we have visitor traffic,” Walker says.

The debate about the bypassed section of Mono Way stemmed from the lack of shoulders in some areas of the road.

Earlier this year, the parties agreed to work together on a 1.7-million dollar project to add four-foot shoulders to both sides of Mono, running from Hess Avenue to Standard Road.

The exact date drivers will be able to use the three-mile section of roadway still hasn´t been released by CalTrans.

KVML News will be at the Supervisors session, and will have the latest as it becomes available.