LAKE COUNTY ? More than $2.5 million in federal stimulus money is on the way for road repair throughout Lake County. Caltrans announced Wednesday that it approved a $1.6 billion allocation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to transportation projects throughout the state.
The Lake County/City Area Planning Council (APC) is the transportation planning agency for the Lake County region. The agency last week approved a list of projects to fund in the county”s unincorporated areas and in the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake. As the money trickles down from the federal government through the state to area governments, APC Senior Transportation Planner Phil Dow says anything helps, but there isn”t enough to go around.
“This is the literal drop in the bucket. We have documented needs of $175 million for road repair, and that”s at the 1998 cost. This is very little as far as what we need to take care of some of our rehabilitation backlogs,” Dow said.
Government officials made lists of possible projects to receive federal funding. Dow said the APC considered traffic volume and the condition of the pavement on each road, as well as federal requirements.
Approximately $1.1 million is earmarked for an overlay project on Soda Bay Road, according to Lake County Public Works Director Brent Siemer. New asphalt will be put down on a 2.4-mile section that winds through hilly terrain from the road”s intersection with Konocti Bay Road, past Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, west to the Riviera West subdivision.
“It”s a section that”s been needing repair for quite a while,” Lake County Public Works Supervisor Larry Henry said. Henry supervises a county roads district that encompasses unincorporated Lakeport area, the Rivieras and Cobb.
Siemer said he hopes to have the project complete this summer, along with an estimated $10 million in projects that will not receive stimulus money.
“This will be a small splash but a helpful one,” Siemer said.
Clearlake City Engineer Bob Galusha said out of 13 projects he listed, two were approved. They include applying an overlay of asphalt to almost a mile of Austin Road and approximately 2,400 feet of Burns Valley Road. Both were prioritized because of a high volume of traffic. Galusha estimated the cost at $814,000, and said he hopes to begin construction in June or July.
Galusha said he listed four more projects as alternates in case more stimulus funding becomes available.
Lakeport City Engineer Scott Harter said the APC approved an overlay on Forbes Street between Martin Street and Clearlake Avenue, approximately 3,500 feet.
“This helps a great deal; it”s almost $1 million of infrastructure coming into the city from ARRA funding,” Harter said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
