Nearly 40 Miles Of Repairs On National Trails Highway To Run $3.6 Million

The San Bernardino County Public Works Department will undertake a $3.6 million project to resurface two substantial segments of National Trails Highway between the communities of Newberry Springs and Ludlow.
The county has already secured 77.77 percent of the funding for the project from the county’s transportation agency.
According to San Bernardino County Public Works Director Gerry Newcombe, “The public works department’s operations division intends to utilize its own forces to apply maintenance overlay on National Trails Highway. The project is located on two segments of National Trails Highway: segment 1, between Fort Cady Road and Lavic Road (18.3 miles) and segment 2, between 4.43 miles west of Amboy Road to 17 miles east of Amboy Road (21.43 miles). The scope of work for segment 1 is a maintenance overlay (just under 1 inch) and for segment 2 is a scrub seal. The project will improve the pavement condition of segment 1 and extend the life of the pavement in segment 2 by approximately 12 to 15 years.”
National Trails Highway is a historic highway of cultural significance that also functions as an important detour route for Interstate 40. However, due to its length – over 120 miles entirely within San Bernardino County that lie east of Barstow – and remote location, the cost of providing proper maintenance has been prohibitive. Many segments of the road have fallen into disrepair. Newcombe said segment 1 was selected for resurfacing because the existing pavement is currently in very poor condition. Segment 2 was selected for resurfacing because of a pending safety improvement project consisting of raised pavement markers that is being done because of the recent award of federal Highway Safety Improvement Project funds. The scrub seal is a proper preparation prior to installing the pavement markers, Newcombe said.
Total cost for the National Trails Highway resurfacing project is estimated to be $3,600,000 of which the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, known by its acronym SANBAG, will provide $2,800,000 in Measure I North Desert Subarea Major Local Highway Program (MLHP) funds as reimbursement for project costs.
The remaining $800,000 will be funded by the county as part of the 2016-17 Pavement Condition Improvement program.
SANBAG is the county’s joint powers transportation agency. Its 29-member board consists of a representative, either a mayor or council member, from each of the county’s 24 cities, and all five members of the board of supervisors. Measure I is a county-wide initiative first passed in 1989 to impose a half cent sales tax throughout the county for the purpose of providing funding for transportation improvements.

Leave a Reply