"The long-running battle over widening portions of State Route 37 between Vallejo and SR 121 reached another milestone this week when Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 697. AB 697 changes existing law to make it easier for the highway expansion to occur despite it moving through protected marshlands - a move that many environmentalists say amounts to a weakening of California's environmental safeguards."
"Caltrans and regional partners argue this interim expansion is necessary to reduce chronic congestion, improve freight reliability, and provide some resilience as sea levels rise. They also note that without the exemptions in AB 697, construction would be restricted to just 10-12 weeks per year, in order to avoid disturbing species during sensitive seasons; those constraints dramatically elevate costs and delay timelines."
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 697, changing law to ease widening State Route 37 across protected marshlands. AB 697 allows Caltrans to obtain incidental take permits for four fully protected species—salt marsh harvest mouse, Ridgway's rail, California black rail, and white-tailed kite—only if impacts are fully mitigated and approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The immediate beneficiary is the Resilient SR-37 Sears Point to Mare Island Improvement Project, a roughly $500 million, ten-mile widening that adds a managed lane each direction. Caltrans and partners say the project will reduce congestion, improve freight reliability, and provide interim sea-level-rise resilience, while environmentalists warn the measure weakens safeguards.
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