Bypass opening scheduled for July 22

The opening of the Highway 4 Angels Camp Bypass will mean back-to-back days of celebration in and around the city.

 It will also mean some frustration for local drivers.

Calaveras Council of Governments Executive Director Tim McSorley confirmed Thursday that the $61.5 million bypass, which will carry Highway 4 traffic around downtown Angels Camp, is still on track to open July 22. 

Late spring thunderstorms had earlier raised some concern the opening, more than a year prior to the original target date, may be delayed a day or two.

The city of Angels Camp is also planning its own celebration of the road’s opening for traffic with the route open to cyclists and pedestrians a day earlier on July 21.

When the bypass opens, the connection between the old stretch of Highway 4 and the new one, referred to as the “shoo fly,” will still take up to four weeks to complete, McSorley said.

He addressed rumors spread around the community that the entire mile-long stretch of soon-to-be-former Highway 4 would be closed for that length of time.

“That is not true,” McSorley said, noting “local traffic will still have access” on the route.

He also anticipates the four-week-long worst-case scenario will not come to pass “knowing how fast Teichert (the general contractor) has worked.”

A number of state and local dignitaries, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and area legislative and congressional representatives, have been invited to the opening ceremony, but McSorley said none have yet confirmed their attendance.

The Caltrans ceremony is expected to last 15 minutes to an hour, Angels Camp Mayor Jack Lynch, who sits on the CCOG board, said.

Lynch also discussed possibilities for the city’s celebration, which he said will include cooperation with the Angels Camp Business Association.

Lynch said he hopes residents will get the chance to run, walk or pedal their bicycles on the freshly paved route the afternoon before the bypass opens.