A measure renaming a portion of Highway 99 in Sutter County in honor of the late Joan Bechtel, former Sutter County supervisor, was passed unanimously in the Senate and Assembly.

Bechtel, 69, a longtime Yuba-Sutter resident, died June 26. She served two terms as a county supervisor and became clerk-recorder halfway through her third term as supervisor.

The road portion being renamed as the Joan Bechtel Memorial Highway is from the intersection of Highway 113 south to the intersection with Central Avenue. Money for signs designating the area will be raised through private donations.

Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, who represents the county, authored a bill requesting for the name change after Sutter County supervisors passed a resolution in July asking him to write the legislation.

Bechtel went "above and beyond her service to the people of Sutter County," LaMalfa said in a statement. "She worked tirelessly and led the effort to improve highway safety for the county's residents and others traveling through the community," he added.

Sutter County Administrator Larry Combs said earlier that naming a section of highway after Bechtel would be fitting because of efforts she made to improve the highway.

In particular, he noted Bechtel's efforts in 1997 and 1998 to widen the highway to four lanes following a particularly tragic stretch of accidents.

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