Murphys residents, businesses press Caltrans and county over new SR‑4 concrete median

Caltrans officials defended a recently installed concrete median on State Route 4 in Murphys as an expedited vehicle‑safety measure, while a steady stream of residents and local business owners told the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors the project was rushed, poorly justified and harmful to safety and local commerce.

At the board's Dec. meeting, Caleb Brock, deputy district director for Caltrans District 10, said the median was treated as a safety‑priority project that required fast action. “This was identified as a safety project, actually needed to be taken quickly,” Brock said, adding that Caltrans will continue to monitor the corridor and coordinate with county staff.

Speakers from Murphys said the project has produced new hazards and was inconsistent with the community’s 2019 Murphy’s State Route 4 Complete Streets Plan. Christopher Butner, publisher of calaveras2026election.com, said he reviewed collision data and concluded the Caltrans study period used to justify the median was a statistical outlier and no longer reflects current trends: “The data driven justification Caltrans used for the median project was flawed,” he said, and urged restoration of the roadway from Post Mile 2949 to Post Mile 2962.62.

Peter Mauer, identified as president of Murphy’s, said the Complete Streets plan — funded and guided in prior years by Caltrans and the county — should have been used to address safety and multimodal goals rather than installing a concrete barrier. “Instead of putting in this barrier, why couldn't that money have gone to implement the other half of this plan, which would have addressed the safety concerns as well as the multimodal transportation goals,” Mauer said.

Other speakers raised operational concerns, including access for emergency vehicles, the impact on pedestrian and bicycle movements, and the timing of notices and community engagement. Shannon Gazzetta, a Murphy’s business owner, said signage went up after trucks had already begun work and urged a clear mitigation plan: “There is no account for community involvement thus far. No plans have been shown to anyone of the work that is being done literally as we speak.”

Caltrans acknowledged shortcomings in outreach and said separate projects address pedestrian safety on a longer timeline. Brock noted the HAWK crosswalk project targets pedestrian safety and has longer lead times, while the median was an expedited measure for vehicle safety. He said Caltrans would work with county staff and community partners: “We acknowledge that we could have done better, and we will do better.”

The board did not take a formal enforcement action against Caltrans at the meeting but several supervisors asked staff to pursue closer coordination, consider temporary measures to improve visibility at the crosswalk, and press Caltrans for options — including whether the median could be modified once longer‑term Complete Streets work is ready. Several residents said they will continue gathering signatures and public records to press for either removal or redesign.