LAKE COUNTY >> The recently axed Dam Road and Lakeport Boulevard projects are still alive but will have to delayed, a Lake County/City Area Planning Council (APC) member said at the agency’s regular meeting Wednesday.
The California Transportation Commission had requested in January that the APC eliminate the projects in response to budget shortfalls anticipated from the loss of gas tax revenue. But according to Executive Director Lisa Davey-Bates, the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) guidelines do not allow the deletion of current year programming.
“At the end of the day it’s sort of good news,” Davey-Bates said. “There’s some hope now.”
Instead of allocating the $164,000 in pre-construction costs for this fiscal year, the APC will delay the expenditure for five years or until the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
Even then, projects initiated during those later years will have to be approved by the state at that time, meaning that these projects aren’t safe unless he California’s Transportation reverses the budget shortfall caused by low gas tax revenues. Plans are in development on the state level to test a per mile tax, charging drivers for heavier use of roads.
Those tax revenues are directly related to the price of gas, which is low due to the glutton of supply in the world’s oil market. As of Wednesday, the price per barrel of crude oil closed at $38.29.
“I can’t imagine that gas prices get to be any lower,” Program Manager Nephele Barrett said.
The APC has given official support for Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal and a senate bill that would help mitigate this crisis. However, enacting that legislation may take months, according to a letter from Senator Mike McGuire to the council.
“This is the best case scenario unless the funding situation is turned around,” Davey-Bates said.
In another item, the APC took up its unmet needs for the next fiscal year but that was minutely discussed.
Both measures passed unanimously.
