Stimulus funds fuel area road projects

Federal funds streaming into Mid-Valley road projects will cut months or years from the start of much-needed highway repairs, officials said Thursday.

Sutter County will receive $22.8 million from the federal transportation stimulus bill passed last month to repave Highway 99/70 from the Sacramento County line to where the two highways split.

Colusa County will get $9.5 million for safety fixes at the intersection of Highway 20 and Interstate 5 in Williams.

"Obviously it's a very positive thing for all of Sutter County," said Supervisor James Gallagher. "Any and all transportation funds are badly needed."

Sutter County has embarked upon an ambitious road plan this year, he said. This additional funding will be positive for the region as it continues to address its transportation needs.

Without the funds, work would have waited until 2012 on Highway 99 and until 2010 in Williams, said Eric Alvarez, a Marysville-based spokesman for Caltrans, which disburses the road funds.

Across California, 57 transportation projects will share the state's share about $625 million. They range from major city arteries to quiet rural routes — from the $75 million allotted for repaving Interstate 710, a freeway to the busy Long Beach ports, to the $550,000 to refurbish Highway 1 in placid Sonoma County.

Local officials looked forward to solving safety problems dogging major routes, which often must carry regional truck traffic over only two lanes.

In Williams, the interstate ramps to Highway 20 "have had an inordinate number of accidents over the years," said Colusa County Supervisor Mark D. Marshall, who represents Williams and is the city's former fire chief. "We've had some pretty horrible accidents there."

Repairs at the Williams interchange will stabilize the embankment, preventing loose soil and debris from robbing drivers of traction, according to Alvarez.

Another $17.3 million of stimulus money will cover fixes for a second section of Highway 99 near Biggs. The project will flatten pavement dips that prevent oncoming drivers from seeing each other, add turning lanes and widen the shoulders.

The improvements have long been needed but unfunded, said Mike Crump, Butte County's public works director.

"One of our biggest challenges is to maintain just the existing infrastructure," he said. "The stimulus bill will move a lot of projects up the funding list and help them get done sooner."

Other federal support for road upgrades include $1.4 million to maintain a section of Highway 20 in the Yuba County foothills, as well as installing traffic-count sensors along I-5 in Colusa County.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.