SACRAMENTO – The acting director of the California Department of Transportation has sent a letter urging Congress to swiftly pass legislation that will reauthorize transportation funding and protect $23 billion in active state and local transportation projects.

Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty told members of the California Congressional Delegation that, without an extension or reauthorization, the department will be unable to continue existing transportation projects across the state.

In the Aug. 29 letter, Dougherty said that thousands of active state and local transportation projects – valued at $23 billion – would grind to a halt within weeks of the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30 without action by Congress to extend the funding.

Matt Rocco, a Caltrans spokesperson, told Lake County News that local projects that could be delayed due to not having the funding are the paving on Highways 29 and 175, the rehabilitation of Highway 53 – which includes a traffic signal at Olympic Drive in Clearlake – and an in-place recycling of pavement on Highway 20 west of Highway 53.

The current surface transportation legislation, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), expired in 2009, Caltrans reported.

Congress has extended the act seven times, but the latest extension expires on Sept. 30, according to Caltrans.

The federal government currently provides about $3.4 billion per year for transportation projects across the state.

To read the Acting Director's letter to the California Congressional Delegation, see below or visit www.dot.ca.gov/docs/CaltransDirectortoCalCongress_29August2011_FINAL.pdf.

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082911 Caltrans Letter on Federal Funding