Amended in Senate April 22, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 35

Introduced by Senator Cannella

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)

April 15, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 35—Relative to the Pinnacles National Park Highway.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 35, as amended, Cannella. State Route 25: Pinnacles National Park Highway.

This bill would designate a specified portion of State Route 25 as the Pinnacles National Park Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, Pinnacles National Park is a protected mountainous
region comprising 26,000 acres of the Gabilan Range in San Benito
and Monterey counties, located about 40 miles inland from the
Pacific Ocean, 5 miles east of Soledad, and about 80 miles
southeast of San Jose; and

WHEREAS, Pinnacles National Park is named for the jagged
rock spires and caves that were formed by an ancient volcano and
that typify the park; and

WHEREAS, Pinnacles National Park is home to many species
of flora and fauna unique to the region, including the California
Buckeye, California Quail, Prairie Falcon, and the California
Condor; and

WHEREAS, Pinnacles National Park draws approximately
400,000 visitors each year, generating $8.4 million of annual
economic benefit for the surrounding area; and

WHEREAS, Many of these visitors access the park via State
Route 25, which is located between Interstate 101 near Gilroy and
State Route 198; and

WHEREAS, Pinnacles Forest Reserve was designated in 1906,
and two years later President Theodore Roosevelt established
Pinnacles National Monument; and

WHEREAS, On January 10, 2013, President Barack Obama
signed into law House Bill No. 3641 that created Pinnacles
National Park from the former Pinnacles National Monument;
now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates begin delete that
portion of State Route 25 that lies solely within the exterior
boundaries of the County of San Benito end delete begin insert that portion of State Route
25 from the San Benito/Monterey countyline to Sunnyslope Road
in the City of Hollister and that portion of State Route 25 from
San Felipe Road in the City of Hollister to the San Benito/Santa
Clara countyline end insert as the Pinnacles National Park Highway; and be
it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested
to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the
signing requirements for the state highway system showing this
special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the
author for appropriate distribution.