Highway 99: Act Before the Next Dangerous Intersection
The Issue
Highway 99: Act Before the Next Dangerous Intersection
Hold Sutter County, Yuba City and Caltrans Accountable — Use the Roads We Already Have
Highway 99 serves Yuba City, Sutter County and people traveling through our region from Chico, Gridley, Live Oak, Marysville, Sacramento and beyond. The decisions made about our roads affect commuters, families, farmers, businesses and truck drivers, whether they live here or simply pass through.
Our region has faced these questions before. Caltrans replaced the old Highway 99 and Highway 113 intersection with an interchange, completing construction in 2014. More recently, Caltrans planned a traffic signal at Highway 99 and Oswald Road to address a documented collision problem and accommodate future growth. Its project record reports 37 collisions, including one fatality, in the surrounding project area during a three-year period. These projects show why we should examine Garden Highway’s missing truck-route connections now, before more traffic is added to the same road network.
Our families travel these roads today. Our children and grandchildren will travel them in the future. That is why we need the entire community involved—not only people who live near Garden Highway, but everyone who drives through Yuba City and Sutter County. Residents, commuters, farmers, business owners and truck drivers from across the region all depend on safe connections. Speak up now so the decisions made today serve everyone who will use these roads for years to come.
Garden Highway needs attention now. Trucking and industrial businesses are already concentrated along the corridor, especially between Bogue Road and Lincoln Road. Yet they lack a continuous STAA route connecting them to the major highways. An STAA route allows the larger interstate-style trucks commonly pulling 48- and 53-foot trailers to travel on designated roads. The blue truck sign with a white “T” identifies Terminal Access. A road may exist and serve trucking businesses nearby without being approved for those trucks.
Two connections need a public, comprehensive review: Highway 113 at Garden Highway and Garden Highway through Wilson Road to Highway 99. Without usable STAA access, trucks may have to travel farther through local streets, adding turns, intersections and conflicts with passenger traffic. That also adds unnecessary movements to the already busy stretch of Highway 99 between Bogue Road and Lincoln Road. Truck-route access exists elsewhere along Garden Highway toward Stewart Road, but these missing connections remain unresolved.
Wilson Road was developed as part of the improvements around Highway 99 and Highway 113. When we asked whether it could serve as an alternative route, we were told the necessary STAA access was unavailable. The public deserves to know why, what limitations exist at both connections, and whether changes to striping, turning geometry, shoulders, signals, signs or route designations could address them.
For nearly two years, our project at 8220 Garden Highway has raised these questions with the Planning Department, Development Services, engineers, County leadership and other agencies. We proposed restriping at Highway 113 and Garden Highway, asked about Wilson Road, worked with transportation professionals and offered to help pay for an intersection solution. Our project also faced a proposed improvement of approximately 9 feet of shoulder widening for 120 feet. We kept looking for solutions, but improving one short section for one property would not resolve the corridor’s larger access problem.
I raised these concerns again at the September 16, 2026 Planning Commission hearing. My presentation was cut short before I could fully address the broader safety and truck-access issues. The Commission voted to follow staff’s recommendation to refer our project to the Board of Supervisors. Whatever happens to our permit, this transportation question existed before our application and will remain afterward.
Planning for future growth makes the question more urgent. The Bogue Road-to-Stewart Road planning area has been associated with approximately 2,517 homes, and the Sutter Pointe Specific Plan contemplates approximately 17,500 homes at full buildout, in addition to smaller developments. More homes will bring more vehicles, deliveries and commercial activity. Transportation planning should account for the trucking businesses already here as well as the traffic coming later.
We ask Sutter County, Yuba City, Caltrans and state representatives to jointly and publicly review commercial truck access along Garden Highway, Highway 113, Wilson Road and Highway 99. Identify what prevents continuous STAA access, evaluate practical improvements, and explain which alternatives were studied or rejected during past highway and development planning. If these connections were never fully evaluated, tell the public why.
This request is about using existing highway connections to give trucks practical access to the businesses already operating here, while reducing unnecessary travel on local streets. Residents, commuters, farmers, businesses and truck drivers all have a stake in that decision.
Highway 113, Garden Highway, Wilson Road and Highway 99 are already here. The trucking businesses and trucks are already here. Address the missing connections, explain the decisions publicly, and act before growth makes the problem worse.
265
The Issue
Highway 99: Act Before the Next Dangerous Intersection
Hold Sutter County, Yuba City and Caltrans Accountable — Use the Roads We Already Have
Highway 99 serves Yuba City, Sutter County and people traveling through our region from Chico, Gridley, Live Oak, Marysville, Sacramento and beyond. The decisions made about our roads affect commuters, families, farmers, businesses and truck drivers, whether they live here or simply pass through.
Our region has faced these questions before. Caltrans replaced the old Highway 99 and Highway 113 intersection with an interchange, completing construction in 2014. More recently, Caltrans planned a traffic signal at Highway 99 and Oswald Road to address a documented collision problem and accommodate future growth. Its project record reports 37 collisions, including one fatality, in the surrounding project area during a three-year period. These projects show why we should examine Garden Highway’s missing truck-route connections now, before more traffic is added to the same road network.
Our families travel these roads today. Our children and grandchildren will travel them in the future. That is why we need the entire community involved—not only people who live near Garden Highway, but everyone who drives through Yuba City and Sutter County. Residents, commuters, farmers, business owners and truck drivers from across the region all depend on safe connections. Speak up now so the decisions made today serve everyone who will use these roads for years to come.
Garden Highway needs attention now. Trucking and industrial businesses are already concentrated along the corridor, especially between Bogue Road and Lincoln Road. Yet they lack a continuous STAA route connecting them to the major highways. An STAA route allows the larger interstate-style trucks commonly pulling 48- and 53-foot trailers to travel on designated roads. The blue truck sign with a white “T” identifies Terminal Access. A road may exist and serve trucking businesses nearby without being approved for those trucks.
Two connections need a public, comprehensive review: Highway 113 at Garden Highway and Garden Highway through Wilson Road to Highway 99. Without usable STAA access, trucks may have to travel farther through local streets, adding turns, intersections and conflicts with passenger traffic. That also adds unnecessary movements to the already busy stretch of Highway 99 between Bogue Road and Lincoln Road. Truck-route access exists elsewhere along Garden Highway toward Stewart Road, but these missing connections remain unresolved.
Wilson Road was developed as part of the improvements around Highway 99 and Highway 113. When we asked whether it could serve as an alternative route, we were told the necessary STAA access was unavailable. The public deserves to know why, what limitations exist at both connections, and whether changes to striping, turning geometry, shoulders, signals, signs or route designations could address them.
For nearly two years, our project at 8220 Garden Highway has raised these questions with the Planning Department, Development Services, engineers, County leadership and other agencies. We proposed restriping at Highway 113 and Garden Highway, asked about Wilson Road, worked with transportation professionals and offered to help pay for an intersection solution. Our project also faced a proposed improvement of approximately 9 feet of shoulder widening for 120 feet. We kept looking for solutions, but improving one short section for one property would not resolve the corridor’s larger access problem.
I raised these concerns again at the September 16, 2026 Planning Commission hearing. My presentation was cut short before I could fully address the broader safety and truck-access issues. The Commission voted to follow staff’s recommendation to refer our project to the Board of Supervisors. Whatever happens to our permit, this transportation question existed before our application and will remain afterward.
Planning for future growth makes the question more urgent. The Bogue Road-to-Stewart Road planning area has been associated with approximately 2,517 homes, and the Sutter Pointe Specific Plan contemplates approximately 17,500 homes at full buildout, in addition to smaller developments. More homes will bring more vehicles, deliveries and commercial activity. Transportation planning should account for the trucking businesses already here as well as the traffic coming later.
We ask Sutter County, Yuba City, Caltrans and state representatives to jointly and publicly review commercial truck access along Garden Highway, Highway 113, Wilson Road and Highway 99. Identify what prevents continuous STAA access, evaluate practical improvements, and explain which alternatives were studied or rejected during past highway and development planning. If these connections were never fully evaluated, tell the public why.
This request is about using existing highway connections to give trucks practical access to the businesses already operating here, while reducing unnecessary travel on local streets. Residents, commuters, farmers, businesses and truck drivers all have a stake in that decision.
Highway 113, Garden Highway, Wilson Road and Highway 99 are already here. The trucking businesses and trucks are already here. Address the missing connections, explain the decisions publicly, and act before growth makes the problem worse.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on September 21, 2026