By Dana M. Nichols, Stockton Record

MURPHYS – In the last decade, Mother Lode counties have spent more than $100 million on key transportation projects, including the $61 million Highway 4 bypass around downtown Angels Camp completed last year.

“If you are not going
to borrow the money,
and if you are not
going to raise taxes,
then you won’t have
a modern transportation
system in America.”

— John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove

But Mother Lode government officials and transportation planners have more than a few worries about what may happen in the next decade, they said during a public town hall meeting this week with the California Transportation Commission at Kautz Ironstone Winery in Murphys.

They said they already can’t keep up with maintaining local roads and highways, and that state and federal budget deficits combined with bureaucratic hurdles threaten to delay or even derail needed upgrades.

Three of the 10 commissioners were present: Bob Alvarado, James Ghielmetti and Fran Inman. They appeared to listen sympathetically to local leaders’ concerns. But while the commission has historically found ways to meet the needs of the Mother Lode – it gets praise from Lode transportation leaders – there’s little the commission can do to counteract larger forces that are squeezing funds.

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