Improvements coming to Highway 99 in Tulare County through funding

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- More improvements are underway to Highway 99 in Tulare County.

In the coming years, a five-mile stretch from south of Avenue 200 to north of Prosperity Avenue will be widened and improved.

The current four lanes will eventually be six lanes and the Paige Avenue interchange will be reconstructed.

"It will dramatically reduce the safety issues we have seen over time. As well as improving access and movement of goods, so it's a great economic project as well," said Tulare City Manager Marc Mondell.

Mondell says the project is possible thanks to a $98.04 million federal grant.

The Tulare County Association of Governments worked with Caltrans and other partners to secure the funding. which Mondell calls an historic investment for the city.

"We're on Cloud 9, it's very exciting for us these types of awards don't happen everyday. They are really generational events," explained Mondell.

This project is not the only one in the works as the new Jaye Street on-ramp will open soon.

The International Agri-Center Way will eventually be a freeway off-ramp that will connect the highway to the Agri-Center, where the massive World Ag Expo draws an estimated 100,000 people from around the world each year.

"That is gonna make our access into our facility and our campus much much smoother, so lots of positive things are gonna be happening in the next 3, 4 or 5 years.," said Jerry Sinift, CEO of International Agri-Center.

Construction is scheduled to start in the winter of 2027 and be completed in the fall of 2029.

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