Caltrans is speeding up highway projects while coronavirus keeps Californians off the road
As state and local officials extend stay-at-home orders, road construction crews across California are taking advantage of reduced traffic to speed up projects.
Contractors said they are working during the day instead of at night, extending work hours and closing longer stretches of road at a time under temporary agreements with the state Department of Transportation and local agencies.
“There’s recognition that we can get more done with less traffic for sure, and that’s happening,” said Ed Herrnberger, an executive vice president at Teichert, a Sacramento-based construction company. “I’d say that’s consistent industrywide.”
Traffic is down 36 percent on average in urban areas across the state, said Matt Rocco, a Caltrans spokesman.
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