Supervisors seek funding for five Fallbrook projects

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a list of eleven projects for which non-motorized transportation funding grants will be sought, and five of those projects are in Fallbrook.

The 5-0 vote March 23 approves the submission of grants for Brandon Road sidewalks, Mission Road sidewalks, Stage Coach Lane sidewalks, pedestrian ramps at Mission Road and Alvarado Road, and pedestrian ramps at Reche Road and Gird Road.

The San Diego Association of Governments will allocate Transportation Development Act and TransNet funds for bikeway and pedestrian projects. A portion of the state sales tax is allocated to SANDAG and other regional decision-makers throughout the state as Transportation Development Act funding for public transportation systems and non-motorized transportation projects. The TransNet sales tax, approved by the county’s voters in November 1987, provides an annual $1 million for bicycle transportation.

The process is competitive, and historically the county has averaged approximately $300,000 in grants each year. The county’s grant requests total $1,654,600 and during fiscal year 2005-06 approximately $3.2 million is expected to be available for SANDAG’s 19 jurisdictions comprised of the County of San Diego and the 18 incorporated cities in the county.

The county seeks $24,000 for the Brandon Road sidewalk project, which would install sidewalks along the east side of Brandon Road between Mission Road and Alvarado Road in the vicinity of Fallbrook Hospital. The grant request for the Mission Road sidewalk project, which would install sidewalks along the east side of Mission Road from Main Avenue to Old Stage Road, is $130,000. The county is requesting $60,450 for the Stage Coach Lane sidewalks, which would provide sidewalks along the south side of Stage Coach from South Mission Road east along Fallbrook High School.

A $10,000 grant request would help fund the installation of pedestrian ramps as part of the construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of Mission Road and Alvarado Road in the vicinity of the Fallbrook Library, and another $10,000 grant request would help fund pedestrian ramps as part of the signal construction at Reche Road and Gird Road in the vicinity of Live Oak Park.

SANDAG will make its recommendations at the June or July board meeting. Other grants and state gas tax money may also be used to leverage the grant funding for the projects, and approved projects will be presented to local planning or sponsor groups for additional input and discussion during their design.