CTC offers $328m to improve transportation infrastructure

 The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is to provide $328m to carry out 88 transportation projects in the US state to address traffic delays, as well as repair ageing roads and bridges to help encourage cycling and walking.

As part of the new initiative, the state will receive $35.8m for construction of 41 biking and pedestrian projects under the Active Transportation Programme.

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) director Malcolm Dougherty said: “This list of multi-modal and fix-it-first projects help us keep our commitment to Californians to maintain and improve the transportation system for economic and quality of life benefits.” 

The state has recently passed Senate Bill (SB) 1, which has increased the funding for transportation infrastructure projects and road repairs. 

The funding also includes $234m from the State Highway Operation and Protection Programme for 29 ‘fix-it-first’ projects, which have been created to maintain and preserve the state highway system as well as its supporting infrastructure.

The project will see maintenance, repairs and rehabilitation of pavements as well as enhance safety and upgrades to bridges across the state.

Funding will be used by the transport authorities towards repairs and maintenance of the Last Change Grade, a four-mile stretch of US Highway 101 south of Crescent City, which is known for its geological instability.

For this project, authorities have allocated $5m to be used by Caltrans to get environmental clearances and initiate geotechnical investigations for proposed alternatives to the existing highway alignment.

Caltrans District 1 director Matt Brady said: “While this amount is not enough to complete all of the studies required, it is a positive movement towards developing a project that meets everyone’s needs.” 

As part of the State Transportation Improvement Programme (STIP), capital improvement projects worth $6.4m will be carried out on and off the state highway system, $4.6m will be used to ease traffic congestion for better goods movement under Traffic Congestion Relief Programme projects.

The remaining $1.6m allocated came from various state and federal transportation accounts.