El Dorado County benefits from transportation funds

The California Transportation Commission has allocated $1.3 billion in transportation funding, including $541 million to implement California’s “fix it first” strategy for preserving and maintaining California’s 50,000 lane miles of highways.

Here are some significant projects that will help preserve and maintain California’s existing infrastructure assets:

· Rumble strip safety upgrades: $1.98 million was allocated to place ground-in rumble strips at 17 locations in Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties to reduce vehicles running off the road and centerline collisions.

· El Dorado County Class I bike path: $250,000 was allocated to Placerville for a Class I bike path from Forni Road/Lower Main Street to Ray Lawyer Drive

· Nevada County bridge painting: $2.1 million was allocated to paint two bridges on Interstate 80 over the Truckee River near Floriston.

Among the $541 million allocated, $10 million comes from the remaining Proposition 1B funds, the bond that voters approved in 2006. Proposition 1B authorized $4.5 billion to improve performance on the state highway system and California leveraged another $4.6 billion in federal, state and local funds while recapturing cost savings during construction.