The Millerton Road Widening and Safety Improvements Project (Project) proposes to widen a 3.2-mile stretch of Millerton Road from a two-lane rural roadway to a four-lane divided arterial roadway, and include additional safety features such as roundabouts, striping for bicycle lanes, and left-turn pockets. It spans from North Fork Road in the community of Friant, to the intersection of Millerton Road and Marina Drive/Winchell Cove Road, where a roundabout will be installed (See Attachment A). Another roundabout would be installed at the intersection of Millerton Road and Morningside Drive.
The Project area is located in rural northern Fresno County, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, near Friant Dam and the Millerton Lake reservoir. The dam controls the San Joaquin River flow and the reservoir mainly fulfills the irrigation needs of the San Joaquin Valley agricultural industry. Secondary uses include flood control and recreation, including swimming, fishing, water skiing and camping. A 25 MW hydroelectric plant operated by the Friant Power Authority produces electricity from large releases and two smaller plants use water released for a fish hatchery and to maintain minimum-flow in the river.
Beginning in the unincorporated community of Friant, population 540, the Project extends into unincorporated Fresno County that borders the tribal land of Table Mountain Rancheria, the Chukchansi band of Yokut and Monache tribes of Indigenous Americans. Millerton Road serves as access to Millerton Lake State Park, Table Mountain Casino Resort, and several housing developments. The Project area covers two census tracts, 55.15 and 64.05. They have a combined population of 7,037, so it is considered rural. Neither tract is an Area of Persistent Poverty or a Historically Disadvantaged Community, although the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool does designate tract 64.05 as “partially disadvantaged” due to the location of a Federally Recognized Tribe (See Attachment B). The Project has been ongoing for a number of years and has experienced delays due to environmental, right-of-way, and utility concerns.
The Project is now ready for construction; however, funding for the Project is insufficient due to rising construction costs and unexpected issues. During the time the County was working through the delays, Table Mountain Rancheria widened a 0.8 mile section of the roadway in front of their newly built casino on Millerton Road from 2-lane to 4-lane, which starts at the casino entrance and ends at Marina Drive/Winchell Cove Road. The sudden transition from 4-lane to 2-lane traveling west on Millerton Road creates a bottleneck which is very abrupt and has resulted in a number of severe crashes, some fatal. According to the Transportation Injury Mapping System by UC Berkeley SafeTREC, between 2012 and 2022 there were 95 collisions; 10 of which were fatalities and 85 were injuries, 16 of which were severe injuries (see Attachment C). Furthermore, it was reported by CalFire that they had responded to 193 collisions on Millerton Road during the same time period.
The County has proposed a roundabout at this intersection, which will reduce the overall speed of drivers. The roundabout should significantly reduce the number of crashes and deaths that have happened in that location. Additionally, widening the remainder of the road will improve the bottleneck at the intersection and prevent sudden passing or merging maneuvers by impatient drivers. The project will achieve these objectives by transforming the current 2-lane rural roadway into a 4-lane divided arterial roadway with paved shoulders, including signed and striped bicycle lanes and facilities for pedestrians. Several public road intersections, private road intersections, and driveway intersections would be improved to accommodate the widening of the road and median improvements.
In addition to the roundabout at Millerton Road and Marina Drive/Winchell Cove Road, a second roundabout would be constructed at the intersection of Millerton Road and Morningside Drive, about 0.7 miles west of Marina Drive. The purpose of this additional roundabout would be to reduce driving speeds and accidents while promoting safer driving practices. New housing developments will be built near this intersection in the future, so the second roundabout would provide an additional safety benefit for the presumed increased traffic flow. Additionally, the project will include new, pocketed, left-turn lanes, and a new, two-lane, pre-stressed I-girder bridge over Friant-Kern Canal to complement the already existing bridge and to accommodate the additional two lanes. These improvements will contribute to a higher level of safety and mobility for motorists and bicyclists. The reconstructed roadway would generally follow the alignment of the existing roadway, with deviations needed to upgrade the horizontal and vertical geometry to current standards.
A future phase of the project will widen Millerton Road east of the project area from Sky Harbor Road to Auberry Road, which also serves rural communities. This will complete the expansion of Millerton Road from a 2-lane to a 4-lane road throughout the length of the road and increase safety and reduce congestion in the area.
The estimated cost of the project is $11 million. This project is currently seeking funding sources.
Millerton Road & Marina Drive Roundabout
(PDF, 2MB)