Bids are in and substantial work will start in the new year on the widening of Highway 76 ---- a project North County residents have waited decades to see become a reality.

The partnership that is making this $200 million project happen is deep and wide. It starts with the voters of San Diego County who approved locally generated money. It spreads out to include state money. And it concludes with federal stimulus funds, brought to California in part through the leadership and hard work of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Motorists have been patient as they have waited for improvements to the road, one of North County's worst bottlenecks. Crews will widen Highway 76 from two lanes to four between Melrose and Mission avenues, with the ribbon-cutting celebration expected in 2012.

The project will generate close to 4,000 jobs nationwide, with 1,700 of those concentrated in the state, and about 900 in San Diego County.

From a regional perspective, this project will help complete our highway network. Once a rural road, Highway 76 runs through one of the county's fastest growing communities. It already has been widened in Oceanside from Interstate 5 to Melrose Avenue. This new middle segment will continue that widening across Vista and Bonsall to Mission Avenue. And starting in 2012, construction is expected to begin on the final piece, carrying the project from Mission Avenue to Interstate 15. That will create another vitally needed east-west route from I-5 all the way to I-15.

It will also make good on a promise given to the region's voters. At the time the first TransNet half-cent sales tax measure was approved by San Diego County voters in the 1980s, the project was already on the drawing boards. But funds ran out before it could be built. When the TransNet extension went on the ballot a few years ago, voters were assured that this time Highway 76 would move forward ---- and now it will.

Along the way, other funds in addition to TransNet have been contributed. The state put in $13 million for environmental work at an early stage. And when American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds became available recently, Governor Schwarzenegger worked to bring as much to the state as possible. A portion was steered toward San Diego, with San Diego Association of Government (SANDAG) dedicating $109 million toward Highway 76.

In a couple months, we will break ground on this long-overdue project. When that day comes, it will celebrate a very successful collaboration between the citizens of this region, the local government, the governor's office and the president of the United States.

Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler is chair of the San Diego Association of Governments.