U.S. House allots $5 million for 76 in new bill

The US House of Representatives approved a multi-year transportation bill March 10 and included $5 million to help fund the

widening of State Route 76. The multi-year Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) is scheduled to expire in May 2005, and the new multi-year

transportation bill is making its way through the Federal government process. The House version is known as TEA-LU, or Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. The transportation bill must still be approved by the US Senate, and any changes from the House version must be brought before a conference committee after which the conference committee’s bill will return to both houses for concurrence. The bill then must be signed by President Bush.

The inclusion of more than $95 million in projects for San Diego County by an overwhelming House vote, however, is of encouragement to the San Diego Association of Governments, who disburses transportation funding for state and Federal roads in San Diego County. SANDAG executive director Gary Gallegos commended San Diego County’s five US Representatives for putting partisan and ideological differences aside to work for the passage of TEA-LU.

“The delegation did work very well together, all five of them, Republicans and Democrats,” Gallegos said.

Darrell Issa, Randy “Duke” Cunningham and Duncan Hunter are the three Republicans who represent San Diego County districts, while Susan Davis and Bob Filner are the two Democrats who represent districts in the county.

Gallegos notes that passage of the Federal bill would augment TransNet sales tax funding approved by the county’s voters last November. “That would secure two of the pieces in terms of the funding puzzle,” he said.

The third piece of that funding puzzle is state funding, and Gallegos noted that SANDAG staff and board members would be working to obtain that element.

The widening of State Route 76 is currently focusing on the segment between Melrose Drive in Oceanside and Mission Road in Bonsall. That segment is still in the environmental review stage, and Caltrans expects a final Environmental Impact Report to be issued in early 2007, which would allow construction to begin in mid-2007.

“We meet on the project almost daily to look at ways that we can expedite the project,” said Mark Phelan, the Caltrans project manager for Highway 76.

Those acceleration plans will include public input, and Phelan expects to have a public meeting in June or July of this year. “We’re probably now looking at four to six weeks away to having a really detailed plan to roll out,” he said.

Caltrans estimates that the construction portion of the Melrose to Mission segment will cost about $90 million. “Every dollar helps,” he said of the TEA-LU money. “We’ll need money for all phases of the work.”