A Fix for 46
Florez, Caltrans, local leaders break ground on Hwy 46 safety improvements

BAKERSFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter), a key proponent of the “Fix 46” campaign, will join Caltrans officials and local leaders Tuesday morning for the long-awaited groundbreaking on major safety improvements to the highway dubbed “Blood Alley” for the many lives it has claimed.

A decade after several high profile crashes prompted then-freshman Assemblyman Florez to launch a campaign that would weave its way through his entire legislative career, Florez will be on hand to see ground broken on Segment One of the widening project, which will encompass an eight-mile stretch of Highway 46 from just west of Highway 33 to Brown Material Road near Lost Hills.

“I am excited to see a promise to the families of those who have been lost on this treacherous road finally fulfilled,” Florez said.  “The highway always looked deceptively safe, but the numbers told a heartbreakingly different story.”

Florez first introduced legislation to approve environment reviews and planning for the Highway 46 widening project in 1999, after a tragic accident left a young woman dead and the Waski family of four with devastating injuries.  He held annual meetings with Caltrans on progress, fought for funding and pushed for reluctant property owners to make available the needed land to complete potentially lifesaving improvements.

Tuesday’s groundbreaking will be held at Lost Hills Park, where Highway 46 intersects with Lost Hills Road west of Interstate 5.
 
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WHO:             Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter);
                        Caltrans representatives; Local elected officials

WHAT:           Groundbreaking on safety improvements to Highway 46

WHEN:           Tuesday, November 10, 2009
                        11:00 a.m.
WHERE:         Lost Hills Park; 11688 Lost Hills Road at Highway 46