$82M Highway 99 interchange project aims to reshape key Tulare County corridor
The State Route 99/Caldwell Avenue Interchange Project is expected to accommodate current and future transportation needs in Tulare County, improve regional connectivity and make travel safer and more efficient. The project is part of a broader plan to improve transportation and support business development and freight movement along the Avenue 280 corridor, which includes Caldwell Avenue and Visalia Road and stretches from Highway 99 east to Exeter. The Highway 99 interchange portion of the project will cost $82 million, according to Caltrans Project Manager Mohamad Annan. Funding will come from a combination of federal, state, regional and local sources, including Tulare County Measure R funds, California's Regional Improvement Program, the Local Partnership Program, the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and other federal funds. “When this particular project is done, it's going to be a critical and crucial access for the future children's clinic and future Kaweah outpatient surgery center and a great east-west corridor going into the eastern part of the county,” said Dennis Townsend, a Tulare County supervisor and chair of the Tulare County Association of Governments Board of Governors. “I'm sure it's going to be a boon to Farmersville and to Exeter, but it's also
