If you regularly travel near Lake of the Pines on Highway 49, you’ve probably noticed it’s now easier to get onto the highway. Cal Trans Public Information Officer Raquel Borrayo says they recently completed longer acceleration lanes in both directions at the busy Wolfe/Combie Road intersection, to reduce the possibility of accidents…

Highway drainage was also upgraded for the three-point-eight million dollar project. Borrayo says it’s one of the more than the 160-million dollars’ worth of improvements either completed, in construction, or planned for the corridor between Grass Valley and Auburn. The next one, starting in the spring, will add a turning lane between Round Valley Road and Quail Creek Drive, to reduce rear-end collisions. But the project with the most interest for Nevada County motorists is still years away. It includes widening between McKnight Way and La Barr Meadows Road, along with truck-climbing lanes…

Borrayo says another project still in the development stage is between Lone Star and Laurentian Roads in Placer County that includes a concrete median barrier.