Stanislaus County — Caltrans today announced that work has been completed on a $1.58 million Clean California Tuolumne River Beautification Project. The recent effort installed decorative steel panels along northbound State Route 99 (SR-99) to improve the visual landscape for motorists approaching the scenic Tuolumne River and City of Modesto.
The project was made possible by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative – a sweeping, $1.2 billion, multiyear clean-up effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create thousands of jobs, and join with communities throughout the state to reclaim, transform, and beautify public spaces.
Motorists on northbound SR-99 are now greeted with images of cattails, grasses, and butterflies carved into steel panels that adorn the top of an 830-foot-long concrete safety barrier located on the right shoulder.
This section of SR-99 was once lined with eucalyptus trees that helped obscure an unsightly wrecking yard, but the trees were removed for safety reasons in 2018. A safety wall was then installed, which was soon covered in graffiti. The new environmentally inspired panels achieve the same concealing purpose and provide a product that is safer and requires minimal maintenance.
“This Clean California effort showcases a creative solution to simultaneously beautify and improve safety on one of the most traveled corridors in the Central Valley,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “The whimsical designs capping a conventional safety barrier offer an eloquent nod to local ecology and the Department’s ability to build infrastructure that is functional and visually appealing.”
The panels were designed by engineers with NCM Engineering of Fresno, and the work was completed by Vanguard Construction of Livermore. Caltrans District 10’s Maintenance Engineering team coordinated the project and ensured it was delivered on time and within budget.
Since launching Clean California in July 2021, Caltrans and its local partners have picked up more than 2.3 million cubic yards of litter – enough to fill about 700 Olympic-size swimming pools. This represents a substantial increase compared to the department’s previous trash collection efforts and can largely be attributed to Clean California, along with other Caltrans litter removal efforts. Caltrans has hosted more than 500 free dump days in communities throughout the state – resulting in the collection of 12,000-plus mattresses and nearly 50,000 tires. The initiative has drawn more than 10,000 community clean-up volunteers and created 15,000 jobs, including positions for individuals who were formerly incarcerated, on probation, or experiencing housing insecurity.
Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about how Clean California is transforming communities and how you can get involved.
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