BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SCR 53
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Date of Hearing: January 13, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SCR 53 (Gaines) - As Amended: August 13, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Shawn Baker and Robert Jones Memorial Highways
SUMMARY : Designates two specific portions of State Highway
Route (SR) 5 in Siskiyou County as the Shawn Baker and Robert
Jones Memorial Highways. Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life of Mr. Baker and Mr. Jones and their
lifetime accomplishments.
2)Designates specific portions of SR 5 between mile markers 35.7
and 39.5 as the "Shawn Baker Memorial Highway" and between
mile markers 41.5 and 43.5 as the "Robert Jones Memorial
Highway" in Siskiyou County.
3)Requests that the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent
with the signing requirements for the state highway system,
showing the special designation and, upon receiving donations
from non-state sources covering that cost, to erect those
signs.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility to determine
the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing the special
designation and, upon receiving donations from non-state sources
covering that cost, to erect those signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Costs to make and erect the appropriate signs
are covered by donations.
COMMENTS : Mr. Baker grew up in New Mexico and Alaska, served in
the United States Navy for five years, and moved to Siskiyou
County in 1999. Mr. Baker began working in the Caltrans
maintenance division in 2001, transferring to the Yreka Special
Projects crew in 2004. From that time on, Mr. Baker took
extraordinary risks to mitigate dangerous situations along the
state's transportation network, such as clearing potential rock
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slides over state highways. Mr. Baker died on April 24, 2013,
while performing rock scaling operations to remove loose
material from a rocky hillside above SR 96 near Happy Camp in
Siskiyou County.
Mr. Jones was born on April 15, 1973, in Yreka and attended
schools in northern California through high school graduation.
In 1994, Mr. Jones met the love of his life and they were
married on June 15, 1996. Mr. Jones began his Caltrans career
in 2005 as a temporary employee for the Mount Shasta maintenance
crew, later transferring to the Yreka Special Projects crew in
2010. In his free time, Mr. Jones served as a volunteer
firefighter at the Mayten Fire Department. Mr. Jones died on
April 24, 2013, in the same tragic accident as Mr. Baker,
working to clear loose material along SR 96.
This bill designates portions of SR 5 in honor of Mr. Baker and
Mr. Jones to acknowledge their important contribution to their
community and the State of California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093