Funding for the removal of steel and concrete debris of the Highway 49 Bridge from the North Fork American River has become available through Assembly Bill 178 within the California 2022-23 budget.
Within AB 178, it is noted “$8,000,000 to the County of Placer to remove the steel and concrete wreckage of the former State Route (SR) 49 Bridge that lies in the American River.”
“On behalf of the Placer County Board of Supervisors, I’d like to thank Governor Newsom for earmarking $8 million for Placer County to manage the removal of the steel and concrete wreckage laying in the confluence of the American River as a result of the collapse of the former State Route (SR) 49 Bridge,” Gustafson said in an email to the Auburn Journal. “This removal project has been 58 years in the making, and it took a coordinated, bipartisan effort from advocates and elected officials at all levels, including State Senator Brian Dahle, Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, and others to finally get the necessary funding. The Confluence attracts many visitors from Placer County and elsewhere, and we are grateful the hazardous debris that endangers the safety of those visitors will be removed as soon as possible.”