The California Department of Transportation has approved a $2 million highway project in Mono County near Coleville, Calif.
Twenty-minute travel delays are expected as work progresses on the construction of 1.3 miles of passing lane just south of the California-Nevada border on Highway 395.
Work is being done by BEC Construction of Minden, with excavation to the west of the existing highway. The project is expected to be completed by late August.
Rehabilitation of the existing lanes is also being done with a new layer of asphalt.
Project Manager Sri Balasubramanian said they chose that location because for 15 miles south of the California-Nevada border there are no passing lanes.
Doris Spencer and her husband live in Coleville and operate the local transmitter, AM 1610.
"The community has tried for years to stop this. They're afraid the future goal is to make a four-lane highway from here to Mammoth, and the people here want to preserve the rural atmosphere," Spencer said.
Balasubramanian said to the best of his knowledge, there are no plans for a four-lane highway there.