The Rush Creek Project widened 7 miles of existing 2-lane highway to a 4-lane divided highway in and near the community of Lee Vining. Construction components of the project included:  two bridges at Rush Creek; concrete box culverts at Walker, Parker, and Lee Vining Creeks; and retaining walls on both sides of Highway 395 at the south entrance to Lee Vining.

The project began in the early 1990s, and the environmental review was released in August 1997. Caltrans determined this project would not have a significant effect on the environment and issued a Negative Declaration. The Federal Highway Administration concurred, and an Environmental Impact Statement was not required.

Construction began summer 2000. The scope of the project appeared to be exceeding any previously communicated plans. In public meetings, Caltrans repeatedly denied that variations to the original plan were occurring. Only when the community repeatedly questioned the project, did Tom Hallenbeck - District 9 Caltrans Director - admit to a list of 11 discrepancies from the original plan.

As a result of the admitted discrepancies, Mono County has increased its involvement with the Rush Creek Project.  It assigned John Wohlmuth - Mono County Chief Administrative Officer - the task of negotiating additional mitigation to compensate for the increased disturbance. Mono County has agreed to discuss the additional mitigation with the Committee prior to acceptance.

MLC is outraged by the damage that has resulted from the Rush Creek Project. At this point, we can't stop the project but we can continue to watchdog and notify agencies when necessary. We've learned a lot about how Caltrans operates through this project. We now know to be more skeptical early in the planning process, when it is best to address these issues. We plan to use this knowledge to protect the Mono Basin from any further unnecessary damage.