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Project Schedule The US 50 HOV Lanes, Phase 1- El Dorado Hills to Bass Lake Grade Project is scheduled to begin construction December 1, 2008, weather permitting. Construction is currently scheduled to be complete in Fall of 2010.  More information will be provided after the construction contractor's schedule has been approved.

This project includes widening Highway 50 in the median (middle) to extend the eastbound and westbound High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes, extend the eastbound truck lane, replace the 3 bridges at the El Dorado Hills Blvd Interchange, widen the Clarksville Bridge (bridge on Hwy 50 over Silva Valley Parkway), and rehabilitate the pavement on Highway 50.

The new HOV lane in the westbound direction will start just west of the Bass Lake Rd Interchange and connect to the existing HOV lane just west of El Dorado Hills Blvd.

In the eastbound direction the HOV lane starts from the existing terminus near the county line and extends east of Silva Valley Parkway to the bottom of the Bass Lake Grade.  The County's desire was to construct the eastbound lane to the top of the Bass Lake Grade just west of the interchange.  However, Caltrans (which owns the freeway) would not permit the County to merge the HOV lane into the adjacent lane, but instead required the carpool restriction to end (remove the diamonds but keep the lane) while merging the lane on the far right (the truck lane) into the adjacent lane.  Since it is unwise to force trucks going up a hill to merge into an adjacent lane, this merge must occur prior to the Bass Lake Grade.  This project will, however, construct the pavement necessary for this lane.  The Phase II project, which is scheduled to start construction immediately after Phase 1, will widen the bridge at the Bass Lake Rd Interchange and extend the HOV lane farther east.

Project Plan Diagram (Title Sheet)

The existing eastbound truck lane (the lane on the far right) ends at El Dorado Hills Blvd and starts again at the base of the Bass Lake Grade.  This project will also extend the truck lane to close this gap. 

The project will also contribute toward the next phase of the Highway 50 / El Dorado Hills Blvd Interchange improvements by replacing the current Highway 50 mainline bridges and replacing the Highway 50 eastbound to northbound loop off-ramp Bridge. The existing bridges will not accommodate the planned widening of Latrobe Rd/ El Dorado Hills Blvd which is part of the future Highway 50 / El Dorado Hills Blvd Interchange improvements.  The mainline bridges require widening now to accommodate the new HOV and truck lanes but would be replaced in the near future for the interchange work so it was more cost effective to replace the bridges now with this project.

The Clarksville Bridge (bridge on Hwy 50 over Silva Valley Parkway) will be widened to accommodate the HOV lanes and receive a seismic retrofit to better withstand earthquakes.

Portions of the pavement on Hwy 50 are worn out.  These areas are being replaced and/or overlaid with new asphalt to provide an improved roadway surface.