{"id":436622,"date":"2026-08-18T21:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436622\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T21:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:24:12","slug":"roadwork-begins-to-widen-highway-41-in-fresno-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436622\/","title":{"rendered":"Roadwork begins to widen Highway 41 in Fresno County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction has begun on a project to widen and improve a notorious bottleneck section of Highway 41 known for serious crashes and heavy commuter traffic in Fresno County.<\/p>\n

For $77.2 million, approximately six miles between the Excelsior Avenue Undercrossing in Kings County and Elkhorn Avenue in Fresno County will be converted from a conventional two-lane highway to a divided four-lane expressway.<\/p>\n

The current two-lane stretch is one of the deadliest roads in Fresno County \u2014 after segments of the highway to the north and south were widened into an expressway with two lanes in each direction.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a popular route for commuters traveling into Fresno and for county residents heading to Yosemite National Park and the central coast. The stretch has been notorious for backups at times due to accidents or other delays.<\/p>\n

The realignment will expand to the east, provide a 46-foot-wide median, and upgrade design at intersections within the project limits, according to Caltrans.<\/p>\n

Caltrans and Fresno County officials, who celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony last week, say the project will improve safety and reduce travel times.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday marks a major step toward a safer, more reliable State Route 41,\u201d said Caltrans District 6 Director Michael Navarro in a statement. \u201cBy upgrading this segment to a four lane expressway, we\u2019re delivering the improvements residents deserve while strengthening access not only between Fresno and Kings counties, but also motorists travelling through the San Joaquin Valley to major destinations like Yosemite National Park and the Central Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project has been long awaited<\/p>\n

Because of the number of deadly crashes, a group of concerned community members from the area created the Facebook group Widen 41<\/a> in 2020 to lobby for expansion of that part of the highway.<\/p>\n

Lorna Roush, a local resident and administrator of the group, lost a family member to a crash on the road in September 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a bittersweet day,\u201d Roush posted about the groundbreaking ceremony. \u201cI am so proud of our community, the leaders and the departments that were involved getting this project done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno County leaders conducting the ceremonial turning of dirt for the Excelsior Expressway Four-Lane Project on Friday, August 14. Caltrans Funding comes from multiple sources<\/p>\n

Funding for the project is coming from multiple sources, including:<\/p>\n

$29.02 Million \u2013 State Transportation Improvement Fund – Interregional Improvement Program (STIP-IIP)$12.56 Million \u2013 State Transportation Improvement Fund \u2013 Regional Improvement Program (STIP-RIP)$16.25 Million \u2013 State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP)$15.27 Million \u2013Measure C Funding$4.16 Million \u2013 Senate Bill 1 (SB1)<\/p>\n

The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2028.<\/p>\n

In addition to safety and congestion relief, Caltrans says the project will enhance the operational efficiency of the regional movement of freight and goods.<\/p>\n

A 4-mile portion of Highway 41 in Madera County<\/a> is also currently undergoing an expansion to four lanes, the southern route to Yosemite.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 12:03 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction has begun on a project to widen and improve a notorious bottleneck section of Highway 41 known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-436622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}