Ask the R-S mailbag: $10 million in traffic improvements needed for new Bethel campus – Record Searchlight

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Ask the Record Searchlight is a newsroom-wide initiative to connect with you, our readers.If you wondered about something happening in town or had questions on a North State issue, please send us your questions. We'll do our best to answer.

Our mailbag handles questions we were not able to answer during our last live chat, which was held on Oct. 28. The next live chat will happen from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Nov. 11.

Scroll to the bottom of the story to find out how you can send us your question.

Q: What are the plans for improving the Churn Creek and Highway 299 interchange in light of Bethel's new construction?

A: There are several traffic improvements in and around that Highway 299 corridor that need to be done before Bethel Church opens its new campus.

One has been completed, the Highway 299-Churn Creek Road interchange in the area of College View Drive. Northbound and southbound lanes were added, a second left-turn lane was put in, and the former westbound thru lane was changed. Also, the area is more bicycle friendly.

But plenty more needs to be done.

For the record, in early August, Bethel broke ground on its $96 million campus at Collyer Road and Twin Tower Drive.

The occasion was marked by a gathering on the property, were we celebrated by singing songs, praying over the project and ceremoniously shoveling dirt, project manager and Bethel senior leadership team leader Charlie Harper said in an email.

Eddie Axner Construction is doing the site work under the supervision of Modern Building Company, the projects general contractor.

Harper said Bethel plans to modify its planned unit development permit to reduce the size of its second support building to provide a smaller building for office space.

As it stands now, the new campus will include a 171,708-square-foot campus with 1,851 parking spaces and 300 bike racks. There is a one-story worship center that seats 2,600 people and a two-story building for the School of Supernatural Ministry with classroom space for up to 3,000 students.

Bethel wants to start construction of the smaller office building next year, while construction on the worship center and childrens classrooms could start in 2023, Harper said.

Meanwhile, Bethelis spending about $10 million on the traffic improvements, which include road widening, new signals and roundabouts.

On the north side of the Highway 299 Interchange at Churn Creek Road is where two roundabouts will be built. They will go at the intersection of the westbound onramp/offramp and at Hawley Road and Collyer Drive.

Other traffic improvements to be done are:

Brandon Tenney, a projectmanager at the services firm GHD, said there is no set schedule for what portion of the traffic work will start next.

"If I had to guess, I think the Hawley-Collyer and Churn Creek interchange would probably go next," said Tenney, adding that that could start in the next year to year and a half.

Q:I like your idea about readers and the community writing in to ask questions.My question is this: I am notable to make the live chats, but I want to read (or view if I have to) everything that gets asked and answered in them later.Where can I view all past and future live chats after-the-fact, since Im not able to attend them in real time?

A:There are two ways you can get to all published Ask the R-S live chats and Ask the R-S mailbags, an effort that the newsroom started in March of this year.

Go to Redding.com and right under the Record Searchlight masthead, you should see a menu bar with a black background that strips across the page. There on the right hand side next to the weather/temperature, click on the magnifying glass. You can type Ask the Record Searchlight or Ask the R-S to see all our content related to our effort.

We also keep a running list of all live chats and mailbags at the bottom of this story:

The Record Searchlight welcomes your questions. Here's how to get them to us:

David Benda coversbusiness, developmentand anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street"column.Hes part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, coverbreaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribetoday.

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Ask the R-S mailbag: $10 million in traffic improvements needed for new Bethel campus - Record Searchlight