North Bay Roadway Projects Earn Share of Federal Stimulus Funds

OAKLAND, CA — The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has approved nearly $3 million in federal funding for a trio of North Bay roadway safety improvements, including $1 million to complete the financing package for the $2.5 million reconstruction of a section of McGary Road between Fairfield and Vallejo that has been closed due to damage caused by a landslide in the late 1990s. The spending was authorized as part of the Commission’s approval of a $490 million slate of Bay Area transit, highway and local roadway investments to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law Feb. 17 by President Obama. Other North Bay safety projects approved for funding through the so-called stimulus package include $750,000 for the installation of cameras, traffic signal controllers and other intelligent transportation system (ITS) hardware along Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa, and $1 million for the construction of a Class 1 bicycle path parallel to State Route 29 in Yountville.

“Reconstruction of McGary Road is long overdue,” said MTC Commissioner and Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering, explaining that McGary Road serves as a frontage road paralleling Interstate 80 between the Red Top Road and American Canyon Road exits. “This is not just a reliever route for I-80, it’s a vital access route for emergency vehicles responding to incidents along the freeway, and a key link in the regional bicycle network between Fairfield and Vallejo.”

The McGary Road reconstruction project is jointly sponsored by the Solano Transportation Authority, the County of Solano and the City of Fairfield. The sponsors expect to complete environmental clearances by the end of April, award the contract this June and have the project completed by the end of October.

“MTC is committed to making sure we put these dollars to work right away,” explained Spering. “These are projects that will not only generate jobs in the near-term but yield long-term dividends for the Bay Area economy by making our transportation network more efficient.”

By far the biggest piece of the $490 million federal funding package is a $270 million allocation to Bay Area transit agencies. The Commission also voted to distribute $118 million to Bay Area cities and counties to rehabilitate local streets and roads, $70 million to help finance a BART connection to the Oakland Airport, $19 million to install metering lights on select freeway on-ramps in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and $10 million to install a median barrier along Vasco Road in eastern Contra Costa County.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

Contacts:

John Goodwin: (415) 778-5262

Randy Rentschler: (415) 778-6780