STOCKTON – The state Transportation Commission on Thursday allocated $745 million in new funding for 118 transportation projects to cut traffic congestion statewide and bolster the state’s economy.
“We’re providing much-needed jobs and putting people to work building better roads, bridges, rail, and transit for California,” California Department of Transportation Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a statement about the funding.
Nearly $42.2 million of that money is for projects in the San Joaquin County area. Nearly $41.8 million will be used to rehabilitate Interstate 5 from Charter Way to Country Club Boulevard. The work includes reconstruction of the existing eight freeway lanes, widening inside shoulders, reconstructing outside shoulders and auxiliary lanes in order to improve safety and ride quality.
Another $400,000 will be used for the second phase of enhancements on Main Street in Ripon. The work includes landscaping, installing new decorative architectural features and streetscape on Main Street between Acacia and Industrial avenues.
The total allocations include nearly $82 million from Proposition 1B, a transportation bond approved by voters in 2006. In total, nearly $14 billion in Proposition 1B funds have been distributed statewide.
The remaining $663 million in allocations from Thursday came from assorted transportation accounts funded by state and federal dollars.
