C.C. Myers, construction giant who gained fame rebuilding California freeways, dies at 85

C.C. Myers, the legendary Sacramento construction icon who gained fame rebuilding damaged California freeways at breakneck speed, died Wednesday. He was 85.

Myers, whose death was announced on the LinkedIn page of his Myers & Son Construction, started a construction firm in 1973 and gained fame for his can-do attitude tackling huge projects, most notably the repair of the Santa Monica Freeway that had been damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

His company finished the job in 66 days — 74 days ahead of schedule — and was awarded a $15 million bonus from Caltrans.

He followed that up with other major projects, including the seismic retrofit of the Bay Bridge and the 2007 reconstruction of the MacArthur Maze near Oakland after it had been badly damaged by the explosion of a big-rig truck carrying fuel.

The next year, Myers was awarded a $3 million Caltrans bonus for work that repaired Interstate 5 in downtown Sacramento ahead of schedule.

With each project, his fame for getting work done grew, with a 2014 Comstock’s magazine profile declaring him “the world’s fastest man” and summing up his legend in a headline on the cover that read, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, because C.C. Myers didn’t have that contract.”

Myers & Sons announced his death in an online post Wednesday morning.

“He was 85 years old and lived his whole life to the fullest, from a farmer’s son with a 10th-grade education to a leader in the construction industry, he did it all,” the post read. “He truly was the man, the myth, the legend in the construction industry.

“We appreciate the time he was here with all of us and the way he touched and influenced our lives.”

Caltrans Director Tony Tavares called Myers “a legend in California’s transportation industry.”

“When earthquakes and fires shut down freeways, he rose to the challenge and reopened roadways in record time,” Tavares said in a statement to The Bee. “He has left an indelible mark on this state. My prayers and condolences to his friends and family.”

Clinton C. Myers was born March 31, 1938, “one of 13 children raised on a hardscrabble farm in Highland, just east of San Bernardino,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported in a 2007 profile. He told The Bee in 2014 he “found my love” at age 16 when he discovered the construction business.

He left home to work in Long Beach. He eventually made his way to North Highlands, where he founded a contracting firm with his brother and another partner in 1973. The business was sold, and four years later he founded C.C. Myers Inc., based in Rancho Cordova.

His firm’s first project landed in the way of a $200,000 contract from Caltrans to work on Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap. That project was just a few miles uphill from where he would live for most of his later years in Placer County’s foothills.

The announcement of his death spawned a series of condolence messages, including one from former Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty, who called him “a giant in the industry.”

Another message recalled the impact Myers had on Southern California following the earthquake repair job.

“My only experience with C.C. Myers was living down the street from the I-10 overpass at Wilshire Blvd in L. A. in 1994,” Kevin White III wrote. “C.C. Myers demolished and rebuilt the eastbound and westbound overpass 74 days ahead of schedule. Leadership? Check. Maybe influencing a million lives in Southern California? Check.”

Myers’ eldest son, Clinton Myers, 45, said in an interview that his father died of natural causes but that he had remained active in the business the two started in 2010, even after selling his interest to Clinton Myers and a partner last year.

“Even though he had been retired for the last year and a half, he was still pretty involved,” Clinton Myers said. “He wasn’t very good at being retired.

“He was still pretty active, coming to work pretty much every day.”

Despite his success in the construction industry, Myers’ record in business was not perfect.

A homebuilding effort to turn an Auburn hunting preserve into the Winchester Country Club resulted in a bankruptcy filing that cost him millions and a concession in a 2013 interview that “I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

“He always wanted to solve problems, even on construction projects, with a handshake and not get in a big battle with the owner,” Clinton Myers said. “He believed in working together to solve problems and issues.

“He was a gambler in every sense of the word, with some of the real estate stuff and some of the risky projects he took on. He probably had to have that mentality to get where he got.”

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Janelle, whom he met by chance.

“They actually met in Citrus Heights when my dad came home early from work and my mom was swimming in his swimming pool,” Clinton Myers said, adding that she was there because his mother’s sister knew C.C. Myers’ roommate.

In addition to his wife and eldest son, Myers is survived by daughter, Darla, and son Troy. Myers’ younger daughter Debbie preceded him in death.

Services are pending.