County in line for $400 million
By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
State recommendation would fund border, port, rail projects | ∞
San Diego County is on its way to getting a $400 million cut of $3 billion in transportation bond money state officials intend to spread around California for highway and railroad projects to speed the delivery of goods.
The state Department of Transportation's recommendations for the San Diego region, representing 13 percent of the statewide total, would go for the port, coastal railroad and border projects.
The California Transportation Commission is scheduled to decide who gets what April 10.
Marney Cox, chief economist for the San Diego Association of Governments, which organized the region's project nominations, said the $400 million award ---- if it holds up ---- will be a boon for the county's $168 billion economy.
Such an investment in the region's transportation infrastructure would create an estimated 8,612 temporary construction jobs and provide a $2.7 billion shot in the arm for an economy that is teetering on the brink of recession, Cox estimated.
Once the new roads and railways were in place to support a proposed third border crossing, a large number of permanent jobs would be created, triggering a ripple effect throughout the San Diego County economy, Cox said.
"The border is really an untapped economic engine for the region that will prove to be a gold mine if we can get those wait times down to somewhere between 20 minutes and half an hour," he said.
But at the moment, he said, border times routinely exceed two hours.
"The maquiladora operations down there are very concerned about the amount of time it takes for their trucks to get across the border," Cox said.
State officials recommended awarding:
In most cases, the recommended awards reflect the requests the association submitted. But there was an exception.
Although the agency asked for more than $230 million to realize a long-running goal of laying down a second track along the coastal railroad through North County, it received just the $10.8 million. However, the regional agency had not anticipated receiving much, as border and port projects ranked higher on its list of priorities.
"We knew going into this that the border projects were going to fare better," said Gary Gallegos, executive director of the association. "So quite frankly we didn't think we were going to get anything (for the coastal railroad)."
The one award, though small, could boost efforts to secure federal money for the double-tracking effort, Gallegos said.
Elsewhere, transportation planners recommended the Los Angeles-Inland Empire region receive $1.65 billion, a little more than half of the available money.
That is less than politicians originally asked for. In November, state lawmakers from the Los Angeles area demanded their region get 85 percent because the twin Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle 85 percent of the cargo coming through California ports.
San Diego County officials countered by arguing the money shouldn't just go for ports and stressed the border is a critical link in the state's system for transporting goods.
In the Inland Empire, Riverside County is in line to receive $152 million for railroad bridges that separate trains hauling freight out of the Los Angeles-area ports from cars on local streets.
Local officials have complained about longer and longer waits for motorists stranded by trains at railroad crossings.
The state also recommended awarding Riverside County $10 million for retooling the Interstate 215/Van Buren Avenue interchange, which leads to a developing industrial area at March Air Reserve Base.
"The region pretty much got its targeted amount," said John Standiford, spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission. "Ideally, we had hoped that the region would merit more.
"But we should look at this as kind of a start rather than a finish. If anyone is looking at this as something that will solve all our problems, they are sadly mistaken."
Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.
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Border projects wrote on Mar 15, 2008 6:20 AM:a waste of precious funds and time. Why do we need nice new roads so illegals can enjoy a swift ride home when they are being chased by the law? NO to any new border crossings. I'd close the borders for awhile until we get serious about enforcement and deportation. If you won't or can't close the borders then issue a border tax on all who cross, make auto and health insurance mandatory and randomly smog check all vehicles to comply with our laws for a change.
Walt wrote on Mar 15, 2008 7:08 AM:It will be interesting to see how the Mexican Border crossing improvements affect ridership on San Diego's only successful trolley line from there to downtown. Hope someone keeps the records.
AVE wrote on Mar 15, 2008 7:20 AM:Why does your "Most Popular" story on the front page continue to be a story from Aug. 8th? Great, it has 8070 page views but enough. why keep pushing it at us just to keep stirring up anti-illegal chatter?
"New employment rules aim to crack down on illegal workers (8070)"
Economic prosperity wrote on Mar 15, 2008 10:12 AM:SANDAG has done a great service to our region by capturing 400 million dollars of state bond money that we as Californians will have to repay whether our region got any of the money or not. These investments in infrastructure are exactly what has been lacking in California for 40 years. Great job SANDAG!
Ask wrote on Mar 15, 2008 10:29 AM:WOW, 3/4 of the money spent on the border.
How does that really help the rest of the county?
400 million wrote on Mar 15, 2008 2:07 PM:and none of it for the taxpaying commuter. Where will the trucks go after they breeze from the border crossing across 905?
George wrote on Mar 15, 2008 4:16 PM:How many of the congestion relief projects suggested in "Fix The Transportation Plan" http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/14/opinion/commentary/20_34_159_13_07.txt could have been accomplished with $400 million? At least half, I'm sure!
Umm.. wrote on Mar 15, 2008 4:52 PM:Screw the border. That helps Mexico. Make them pay, like we have to pay for their sewage on the beach. Make the Sprinter go to the Wild Animal Park, double track the rest of the line in Oceanside so it has the ability to run more often and later when usage grows. , make it actually usable for night classes in San Marcos. Make the Coaster like the Sprinter and be usable for more than a commute.
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