Road Advisory - Hwy 49

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Tyler

Miss Demeanor
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Saw this elsewhere and thought I'd pass it on...

[Knife River Construction has a $16 mil. contract to resurface Highway 49 from Downieville to the Yuba Pass. They are currently working between Downieville and Sierra City.
This project just started in May 2012 and will not be completed until NOV 2012!

You can get through, but it will add 1 hour plus to your adventure. You will be riding on dusty dirt and loose gravel in slow traffic w/ long wait times.

[if you have a final BELT drive machine (Harley) you may pick up a rock and bust your belt (like the guy I saw today).

It will be well worth it, the new asphalt is GORGEOUS!
 
Thanks Tyler, I was told of this from a couple guys on Hwy 36 last weekend. Funny thing is nothing has been said in our local paper or radio about this mess.

We stay away from 49 in the summer due to all the slow traffic but come on up this fall and ride it with us. Sept and October the road is ours :yahoo:

See post #7, the road is good :)

 
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The wife and I did 49 this past Sunday. The road from Downieville to Sierra City is wonderful. The final lines are not painted yet, but they have the little center markers. It was a nice clean surface, fast and smooth. Above Sierra City was crappy, but only until the Gold Lake turn off. As it was a weekend, we had no delays. The crappy part was not too bad, mostly just rough from the surface being stripped off, with a little gravel remaining. As long as you stay in the tire tracks it was fine. The rest of the road over Yuba pass is what you would expect. No work being done on that part yet.

It was a beautiful day up there. Well worth the ride. Nice lunch at the Buckhorn out on the patio next to the creek. If you don't want to chance the rough road, 49 to Sierra City is good again.

 
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Thanks Tyler, I was told of this from a couple guys on Hwy 36 last weekend. Funny thing is nothing has been said in our local paper or radio about this mess.

We stay away from 49 in the summer due to all the slow traffic but come on up this fall and ride it with us. Sept and October the road is ours :yahoo:
Just make sure you post about it here, Dougnatr.

 
JREW is right. Had my hair cut today by my hair cutter (no friggin stylist for me). She lives in Sierra City and clued me in on the road construction. Beyond Sierra City is gravel for a while, she figures about a month it should be paved to Bassetts Station. From there your good to go Gold Lakes road to Graeagle.

I suspect by september it may be finished to the Yuba pass. Hwy 49 sucks in the summer with all the traffic but come fall, ya baby!

On a side note this construction is a big boom for Sierra City with all the money spent by the construction crews. Lodging, food and liquor. Work hard, play hard!

 
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Update: The road is paved from Downievile to Bassetts Station where you can use Gold Lakes road to get to Graeagle and beyond :yahoo: :yahoo: .

No striping yet and I'm sure there will be delays as they mop up but the worst is over(I hope). Rode through today about 6:30 pm and had the road with new pavement to myself. B)

 
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Update UPDATE The road is new pavement from Downieville all the way to the top of Yuba Pass. No construction on the East side of Yuba Pass. Still road work activity during the week but no gravel sections. Happy Trails!

 
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