A long-awaited safety assessment has been completed by Cal Trans regarding the heavily-used, and accident-prone, commuter corridor along Highway 49 in Nevada and Placer Counties. Among the key and most interesting findings is the majority of collisions occurred, in the last decade, in clear, dry conditions, during the day on weekdays. Nevada County Transportation Commission Executive Director Dan Landon says that suggests driving behavior needs to be changed as much as upgrading the corridor…

The most common and deadliest type of crash is rear-end. And the peak months for accidents are in October and November. The study was divided into four segments between the Interstate 80 junction in Auburn and McKnight Way in Grass Valley. As for the stretch from the Nevada County line to McKnight Way…

But Landon says funding continues to be elusive, since transportation improvement dollars are always prioritized for more urban highways. From 2010 through 2019, there were two-thousand-396 crashes on all four segments, with 33 being fatal. Cal Trans is inviting the public to offer input between now and December 11th.