More money approved from state tax to repair roads

The California Transportation Commission has allocated $669 million for more than 100 projects, funded by or at least partly by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

Money for the widening of SR 99 between Avenue 12 and Avenue 17 in Madera is part of the allotment.

“This allocation builds on a year of funding approvals that have allowed us to move more than $15 billion worth of projects forward,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “So far Caltrans has completed 53 SB 1 projects, a number anticipated to grow to 100 by Dec. 31, with more on the horizon in 2019.”

More than 50 projects were allocated funds that will bring goods to market faster, help relieve traffic in our most congested cities, and provide additional funding on transportation investments that counties have made in their own communities.

Area projects allocated SB 1 funds include: Madera 99 Widening Project: $69.7 million project will reconstruct drainage systems, upgrade guardrail and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) elements, construct one new lane in each direction and improve 23.5 lane miles of State Route 99 from the Avenue 12 Overcrossing to north of the Avenue 17 Overcrossing in the city of Madera in Madera County.

Kern 99 Pavement Rehabilitation (2R) Project: $58.5 million pavement preservation project will replace failed slabs and improve 33 lane miles of State Route 99 from Interstate 5/SR-99 Separation to north of Old US-99 Overcrossing (South Union Avenue) in the city of Bakersfield in Kern County.

Kern 58 Pavement Preservation (CAPM) & ITS Project: $16 million pavement preservation project will upgrade Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) field elements to improve the flow of traffic and improve 18.8 lane miles of State Route 58 from east of the San Luis Obispo/Kern County line (west of Galainena Grade Road near the town of McKittrick) to SR-33/SR-58 Junction in Kern County.

Kern 43 & 119 Pavement Preservation (CAPM) Project: $14.3 million pavement preservation project will improve 22.2 lane miles of State Route 43 from SR-119 Intersection to south of Noriega Road in the city of Bakersfield, and SR-119 from west of South Enos Lane to Interstate 5/SR-119 Separation in the city of Bakersfield in Kern County.

Fresno 145 Pavement Preservation (CAPM) Project: $12.1 million pavement preservation project will improve 12.3 lane miles of State Route 145 from Kamm Avenue in the city of Helm to Manning Avenue in the city of Kerman in Fresno County.

In the last year, Caltrans crews have repaired more than 2,900 potholes, replaced or repaired more than 740 lane miles of pavement, repaired more than 37,500 feet of guardrail, replaced or repaired nearly 950 highway lights and traffic signals, restriped more than 2,000 miles of highway to improve visibility and safety, and fixed 800 roadway signs.

To date, along with the 53 projects completed, Caltrans has awarded or started construction on 90 projects and has begun work, including design and environmental clearance on 357 projects.

At the meeting, the Commission also approved Caltrans’ Annual Efficiencies report which details how the department will achieve more than $130 million in savings.

SB 1, the landmark transportation infrastructure bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in April 2017, invests $54 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges in communities across California and puts more dollars toward transit and safety. These funds are split equally between state and local investments to enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.

More information and updates on projects can be found on Caltrans’ social media http://www.dot.ca.gov/paffairs/social-media.html.