The California Transportation Commission (CTC) allocated $139 million to improve the state’s transportation system and provide further support for the state’s economy. The allocations include $2 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The remaining $137 million in allocations came from assorted transportation accounts funded by state and federal dollars.
“From one end of the state to the other, transportation projects are providing good paying jobs and improving mobility for people and businesses in California,” said Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki. “Our focus has been and continues to be ensuring that California gets the maximum benefit from the stimulus funding.”
More than 140 stimulus transportation projects worth $1.1 billion have been awarded contracts to begin work, and many more projects are in the pipeline — $724 million in federal stimulus funds are projected to be awarded by November.
Among the 44 projects that received funding allocations today were:
• Riverside County — $11.2 million to repair and resurface 9 mi. (14.5 km) of heavily used State Route 91 between McKinley Street in Corona and the Orange/Riverside County line. This project will improve ride quality and safety for more than 200,000 motorists who commute daily on this section of highway.
• Bay Area — $10 million to the Novato Narrows Project, which is widening 8 mi. (13 km) of Highway 101 to six lanes between Novato in Marin County and Petaluma in Sonoma County.
• Los Angeles — $4.4 million to construct and install devices to remove metal pollutants and trash from storm water runoff on 8 mi. of State Route 60 from Monterey Park to the City of Industry.
In addition, $61 million was allocated to Caltrans to cover operating costs for its three intercity passenger rail lines. The Pacific Surfliner, the Capitol Corridor and the San Joaquin are the second, fourth, and sixth busiest intercity passenger rail services in the nation. Collectively, more than five million persons rode these trains in fiscal year 2008-09.
