Save California State Highway 174

I strongly oppose the widening of Hwy. 174 and the removal of trees and curves that make this a scenic beautiful backroad - leave it alone! CalTrans should go work some more on Hwy. 49 which is basically a freeway already.

Please help stop this project

Less expensive options exist which do not require land seizure, such as lowering of the speed limit which is already quite high, and adding additional signage at sharp turns.

I have mailed the following letter to; Senator Gaines, Assemblyman Dahle, and Supervisor Hall: I am sure you are aware of Caltrans’ proposal to widen and straighten a 1.9 mile length of Nevada County's Highway 174, for a cost of over 28 million, and under the pretext that this particular stretch of road is especially unsafe. A review of the records, obtained from the CHP Accident Data Base, has shown this safety concern is bogus. Out of 12 years of data, Caltrans only selected three years to analyze, including the snowy winter of 2011, to show this stretch of road is unsafe. These three years had an exceptional number of accidents and the only fatalities in the 12 year period. This project requires the confiscation of over 14 acres of land from the homeowners along the route. Over 1700 conifer trees, plus an undisclosed number of oaks and other smaller deciduous trees, will be removed. No formal EIR has been filed. Previous Caltrans Widening, and Straightening Projects, such as Highway 49, have resulted in an increase in traffic accidents, and fatalities. When my husband and I first moved to Nevada County in 1989, Highway 49 was a simple two lane highway, which people drove cautiously on. Now it is the Autobahn of Nevada County. We feel the result of this proposed Caltrans Project follow the same fate. There is no valid reason to spend close to 30 million to fix something that is not broken. Especially, when so many Nevada County roadways are in dire need of repair. It would be greatly appreciated if you would follow the wishes of your constituents, and put a stop to this expensive, wasteful, unneeded, and destructive project. Please, keep in mind that Highway 174 is called, "Scenic Highway 174." For those wishing to speed down the hill, there is Highway 49.

Ridiculous! Unneeded and way, way, way over-priced. Direct OUR tax money to repair, re-seal and re-pave our current State Highways that need attention and NOT to alter unnecessary alignments and infringe on private property. Frivolous waste.

We don't need another 49

My husband drives this road every day to work and I haven't been worried about his safety. If the road is widened and speeds increased it will be another hwy 49, and I'll worry every day about him getting to work safely! Please do not widened the road!

Please don't ruin a beautiful drive for all of us who live here and love it just the way it is.

I may not live in Colfax, but I drive thru everyday. This project is a waste of money, a great loss of valuable trees, and not to mention the aggravation of losing parts of homeowners property.

Please spare this beautiful land.

We oppose the project for several reasons, unnecessary destruction of wildlife and personal property, an increase of traffic and speed, destruction of a scenic road and a waste of our tax money.

Waste of taxpayers money! And unnecessary destruction of private property and wildlife. There are better options than this dangerous idea.

Apsolutly no on relying 174 all it’s going to do us make people drive even faster !!! No no no !!!

We sincerely hope there are other options to address the issue. One that does not harm the charm of the area.

Haven't we destroyed enough nature? Please do not remove these trees and vegetation for an absurdly expensive, unnecessary road expansion.

Please don't ruin this historic road. Take time to consider other route alternatives

Grass Valley represents the simplicity of life. We are losing too much of the slow-paced lifestyle to progress. Expanded access can only lead to increased traffic and speed. Convenience and misuse/abuse often go hand in hand.

Duck that ish

This is stupidity. The widened road will only make idiot's go faster!!!!! Oh that's right Citiots!!!!

Please do not waste taxpayer dollars on this needless project which will sully 174. There are far better ways to spend such an enormous sum, like repairs of highways and bridges.