Dec. 4, 2007 — Work on the Skyline East project is shutting down for the winter months. Lassen County Public Works Director Larry Millar said construction on the Skyline Road East project, which runs from Highway 139 southeast to Johnstonville Road, is going well and there have been no delays.

However, the remaining work, including paving the final inch and a half of asphalt and installing signal lights at Skyline Drive and Highway 139, is weather sensitive, Millar said.

Millar said work will resume once the weather warms up during springtime, possibly March. He estimates the remaining work will only last a month.

Currently, the first lift of asphalt has been paved and the drainage structures have been installed. Millar said now is a good time to winterize the project.

County workers gathered in September 2006 for the groundbreaking of the Skyline Road expansion project.

In a Monday, Nov. 5 Lassen County Transportation Commission meeting, Millar said phase two of the extension project will consist of extending Johnstonville Road to State Route 36, is set to begin late summer 2008.

Because the project will consume existing wetlands, the US Army Corps of Engineers required the wetlands be replaced.

The county spent $72,000 to purchase 1.5 acres of new wetland for every acre lost due to road construction. It bought a 5.72-acre perpetual conservation easement and a 3.5-acre road easement at the Robinson Canyon wetland mitigation site near Doyle.

During the LCTC meeting, Millar said the mitigation sites for both Skyline projects were completed in October. The projects went really well and were completed within budget and within the Army Corps timeline, he said.