This weekend's accident resulting in the deaths of an elderly couple from Georgetown marked the second and third deaths of 2006 on Nevada County's stretch of Highway 49, renewing concerns about local traffic safety.

James Arlo White, 80, and his wife, Ilse Lieselotte White, 73, were killed Saturday afternoon when their Jeep Cherokee drifted into oncoming traffic on Highway 49 near Alta Sierra Drive.

Accident investigators surmise White suffered a medical problem, which caused him to lose control of the vehicle.

A Ford Bronco driven by Maureen Elizabeth Craugh, 41, of Grass Valley, was struck head-on. Craugh was treated for major injuries, including severe facial lacerations, at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. She was released later Saturday, hospital spokeswoman Robin Montgomery said Monday.

Deborah Jones, co-founder of Citizens for Highway 49 Safety, questioned why the California Department of Transportation has not installed rumble strips, which officials had promised by December of this year.

"This is getting ridiculous," Jones said. "Two more people are dead. Someone has got to get on this."

Citizens Concerned About Traffic, a local advocacy group, made Saturday's accident an example of the need for additional measures to reduce the number of accidents on Highway 49, particularly head-on collisions.

Cable barrier systems used in Southern California and elsewhere in the country could be an affordable solution to the head-on accidents, CCAT recommended in a letter group leader Grant Cattaneo sent Monday to Nevada County supervisors, city leaders, Caltrans officials and state legislators.

"CCAT is concerned that 'rumble strips' (which are planned to be installed) will not result in a significant decrease of head-ons," Cattaneo wrote.

California Highway Patrol officials, however, said that while the cable barriers prevent vehicles from straying into opposing lanes, they also can mangle drivers caught in them.

Eleven traffic fatalities occurred on Highway 49 between Grass Valley and Auburn in 2005, more deaths on that stretch of road than in 2003 and 2004 combined. The part of Highway 49 patrolled by Grass Valley's California Highway Patrol, between McKnight Road and the Bear River, saw six fatalities in 2005.

Local CHP officers attributed the rise in fatal accidents in 2005 to surging growth in the area and traffic on the route. The relative decrease to three deaths so far this year has been due partly to heightened surveillance, according to Grass Valley CHP.

"We've written more tickets this year than ever before," Grass Valley CHP Officer Jeff Pingree said. The CHP wrote 2,774 tickets this year to people driving in the "safety corridor" of Highway 49, he said.

Grass Valley CHP has a smaller staff than it did in previous years, with 17 officers currently covering the area staffed by 24 in 2003. Officers who are normally stationed inside for administrative work now perform patrols, Pingree said.

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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@theunion.com or call 477-4236.

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To contact Staff Writer Josh Singer, e-mail joshs@theunion.com or call 477-4234.

Letter from CCAT:

To:
Nevada County Board of Supervisors
Nevada County Transportation Commission
Grass Valley City Council
Nevada City Council
Sukhwinder Bajawa, Caltrans, District 3
Senator Sam Aanestad
Assemblyman Richard J. Keene
Citizens for Highway 49 Safety
Curtis Walker (concerned citizen)
Local Media

Subject: Continuing traffic deaths on Highway 49 and the inability of our
governments to resolve the issue


Today, Dec. 4, 2006, Western Nevada County’s newspaper, The Union’s headline read, “2 KILLED, 1 HURT IN HWY. 49 CRASH.” Head-on traffic accidents continue to occur on Highway 49 between Auburn and Grass Valley, with the no prospect of significant solutions in the near future.

A FRUSTRATING HISTORY
Many concerned area citizens, community groups such as Citizens for Highway 49 Safety and CCAT have encouraged our local governments and state legislative representatives to stop the deaths and accidents on Highway 49 by requiring slower speeds and developing physical changes to the roadway. So far, the efforts have been public education and increased law enforcement; and although it appears that there has been a reduction in deaths and accidents — there are still too many.
Citizens for Highway 49 Safety conducted a public workshop on the problems of Highway 49 and sought meetings with local and state legislators and various governmental agencies including Caltrans. The results of Citizens’ efforts were increased public education about reducing speed, increased law enforcement on the roadway and a promise from Caltrans to install “rumble strips” in the center lane on Highway 49 between Grass Valley and Combie Road.
The “rumble strips’ were first planned to be installed before winter 2006, and now we understand the project is to start after the first of the year. CCAT has continually supported the efforts of the Citizens for Highway 49 Safety and further encouraged the our local and state representatives to support a physical barrier on the roadway, recognizing that the proposal for widening Highway 49 was beyond the fiscal abilities of local and state governments at this time. (Nate Beason, chairman, Nevada County Board of Supervisors, in his e-mail of Nov. 20, 2006, to Curtis Walker, a concerned citizen, estimated that widening Highway 49 would be $250 million.
On Jan. 18, 2006, CCAT circulated to local and state legislative representatives and Caltrans the need for a physical barrier on the roadway because of the high incidence of head-ons and recommended the use of a “cable barrier system” used in Southern California and other parts of the U.S. Since CCAT’s memo of Jan. 18, USA Today published an article on the efficacy of the “cable barrier system.” CCAT is concerned that “rumble strips” will not result in a significant decrease of head-ons, particularly the one reported in The Union today.
CCAT then analyzed Caltrans’ methodology for determining how priorities are established to allocate emergency funding for safe roadway projects and found that according to Caltrans, on Highway 49 between Grass Valley and Combie Road, the volume of accidents was below the threshold for emergency funding. CCAT’s further analyses showed that deaths and injuries had the same weighting factor and recommended to Caltrans and the Nevada County Transportation Commission that they consider reviewing and possibly changing the methodology. On Sept. 20, 2006, NCTC reviewed CCAT’s request for changes to Caltrans’ methodology, but failed to take action

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE HWY 49 SAFE, AND WHEN?
This is the major issue and the citizens of Western Nevada County deserve an
answer from someone!

Grant Cattaneo
On behalf of CCAT’s Steering Committee