CALIFORNIA, USA — What was once considered a rural road along the Sacramento River is now a thoroughfare for commuters. With the spike in traffic comes more dangers for the people living and working along Highway 160.
Chris Fulster has lived in his house in Walnut Grove for the last 55 years. Nowadays he can be found hanging out on his property with his best friend, Doc.
"You can have my wife, you can have my kids, but you can't have my dog," said the 91-year old.
While his life at home is relatively quiet, the same can't be said just steps from his property.
"Used to be maybe 100 cars a day, now there's 5,000 or 7,000 cars coming through on the road," said Fulster.
He lives on Twin Cities Road, less than a mile from Highway 160. There's not much out there, but he says it hasn't stopped drivers from utilizing the narrow roads.
"If you go to Walnut Grove, it's not very big and I mean they just don't pay any attention to double yellow lines," said Fulster.
To many locals, Highway 160 has become too dangerous.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Highway 160 averages 100 crashes a year. CHP says 39 people were killed since 2018 with DUI and speeding being a part of the problem. Just this February, five people were killed along Highway 160 and the driver was charged with DUI.
"We love the traffic count coming through, it's just making that more of a safety issue. What can we do to help calm this stretch?" asked John Carvalho.
Carvalho owns the Carvalho Family Winery and operates the Freeport Wine Country Inn right along Highway 160. While high traffic volume is good news for him, he admits safety has been an issue and he's working on trying to figure out a way to fix it.
Small bumps have been placed on the road, but ABC10's camera caught some drivers purposefully swerving to avoid them.
"Stop signs. You know ... that's number one. Then you have light traffic lights and whether it's a roundabout, slow down, because it can be really tough to be able to have law enforcement just be stationed. That's just not really available," said Carvalho.
CHP is responsible for about a 50-mile stretch along Highway 160, all the way from Cosumnes River Boulevard to the Antioch Bridge. So, how many officers are on patrol?
"So we have one unit per shift 24 hours a day," said CHP Officer Mark Leavitt.
That answer has left residents feeling deadlocked on any progress to make the road safer.
"Nothing happens. It's like... it's just disgusting," said Fulster.
CHP will occasionally send extra resources to problem areas, but when it comes to having more units there on a regular basis, other areas take priority.
"We have to put additional units, regular additional units out on the freeways, US-50, I-5, and US State Route 99," said Leavitt. "We also deploy radar trailers throughout the Delta and move those around just to kind of get people's attention to slow down."
For now, CHP encourages residents and business owners to continue to call them and county supervisors to voice their concerns.
"Just respect the speed limits, slow it down," said Carvalho.
CHP also covers a small stretch along Highway 12 in Isleton. They see about 50 crashes a year in their coverage area.
