Construction Projects In Limbo Without Transportation Bill
Construction projects in the desert and across the state could soon grind to a screeching halt if Congress doesn’t act fast, the acting director of the California Department of Transportation said.
The end of the fiscal year is fast approaching, and with that comes the expiration of federal funding for current and future transportation projects.
Thousands of active state and local projects valued at $23 billion would stop within weeks without the extension of the federal transportation bill.
The deadline is less than 30 days away, and jobs are on the line.
Interstate 10 corridor improvement projects are designed to ease traffic.
Widening the overcrossings at Palm Drive and Gene Autry Trail, Ramon Road and Bob Hope Drive, Date Palm Drive and Indian Canyon have bid out at a combined cost of more than $60 million.
All are expected to be completed by next year or 2013, but now that may change.
“Congress needs to act quickly,” said Matt Rocco, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
The acting director for the Caltrans wrote this letter to members of the state congressional delegation and urged them to pass legislation reauthorizing transportation funding and protect $23 billion in current state and local transportation projects.
“The current federal law expired in 2009, and Congress has been extending it,” said Rocco. “In fact, they extended it seven times.”
But this latest extension ends in fewer than 30 days now.
“It’s going to affect everybody,” said Alberto De La Paz, a Thousand Palms resident.
Renato Montano owns Renie’s Towing in Thousand Palms and uses the I-10 overpasses everyday.
He said the projects couldn’t be completed soon enough.
“That’s a lot of traffic over here,” said Montano. “Sometimes it takes forever to go out on the freeway and everything.”
The contractors hired to construct the new structures could also potentially be laid off, according to Caltrans.
“It’s terrible,” said Jerry Segoviano, a Palm Desert resident. “Everyone is losing their job — it’s tough.”
The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
The federal government currently provides about $3.4 billion per year for transportation projects across the state.
