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This Month

SANDAG newsletter
provides information
on key projects & services
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Compass Cards arrive! underline spacer
Get in gear with
Bike to Work Day 2009 underline spacer
SANDAG presents
Diamond Awards
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Regional crime rate hits
25-year lowunderline spacer
Transit public opinion
survey released
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SANDAG Board adopts
stimulus spending plan underline spacer
SANDAG helps San Diego
Stand for Less underline spacer
Actions from the March
Board of Directors meeting
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   the rEgion
 

SANDAG Board adopts SANDAG
stimulus spending plan

A spending plan for federal highway stimulus money that would fund two major highway projects and a long list of local road improvements throughout the region was adopted by the SANDAG Board of Directors on March 27.

This spending plan will pump money into the local economy and create an estimated 1,500 jobs, while at the same time spread funds throughout the county so the entire region benefits from the federal stimulus program.

It is expected that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama in February, will provide the San Diego region with $131.4 million in highway funds. After an ‘off-the-top’ deduction for the Transportation Enhancement program, the rest of the funds were allocated 60 percent to two highway projects and then divided 40 percent among the 18 cities and the county. In order to facilitate the obligation of the ARRA funds, the SANDAG Board approved exchanging the 40 percent share for the local agencies with local TransNet funds. As a result, 100 percent of the ARRA funds available would be applied to two major highway projects.

By applying the funding to two projects, the region is assured to not only obligate the funds in the required timeframe, but also positions itself to receive additional ARRA funds should they become available. Additionally, the TransNet-funds-for-ARRA-funds swap eliminates the burden by the local agencies from having to follow various federal requirements, including monthly progress reports.

The plan includes the following provisions:

  • Set aside $109.3 million in economic stimulus funds for the widening of 5.5 miles of State Route 76 between Melrose Drive in the City of Oceanside to South Mission Road in Bonsall. Federal stimulus funding will ensure that work on the long-awaited project begins quickly. (Under the plan, construction is expected to start in late summer or early fall, approximately three months earlier than scheduled.)

  • Direct $18.1 million in federal highway stimulus funds to the I-805 and Carroll Canyon Road widening project in the City of San Diego.

  • Direct $4 million in federal highway stimulus funds to a Transportation Enhancement-eligible regional project – the Grossmont Station Pedestrian Enhancement Project.

  • Reprogram approximately $51 million in local TransNet half-cent sales tax funds for distribution to all 18 cities and the county government for use on high priority local transportation projects. This will allow those projects to move forward expeditiously and without adhering to the federal requirements.

  • Additional stimulus funds to be distributed by the state are expected to go toward the I-805 Auxiliary Lanes project between SR 54 and E Street in Chula Vista and to complete the SR 905 freeway project connecting the Otay Mesa border crossing with I-805.

High priority transit projects funded with the Federal Transit Administration stimulus component also were approved by the SANDAG Board of Directors during its April 10, 2009, meeting. 

Additional state share of the ARRA funding for interregional rail projects is also anticipated for the Santa Margarita Bridge.

Project Manager

Jose Nuncio, Senior Transportation Engineer
Phone: (619) 699-1908, E-mail: jnu@sandag.org