Wolk urges Caltrans to speed funding for Route 12 improvements

Requests improvements on highway in Solano County be approved in next round of funding

SACRAMENTO– Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) urged the Director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) yesterday to restore badly-needed funding for safety improvements on a stretch of State Route 12 between Suisun City and Rio Vista when the next round of Caltrans’ funds become available.

Wolk pointed to the failed completion of environmental reports which have stalled the projects for eight years, requesting that the reports be completed so that funding can be restored before the next funding cycle of the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP).

“As of today, due to repeated delays, both projects are on the 2006 SHOPP list and not scheduled for funding until the 2009-10 cycle,” wrote Wolk in a letter to Director Will Kempton. “(Caltrans) cites potential environmental impact from these projects as the reason for the delays, yet in the eight years since the projects first appeared on the SHOPP list, the environmental reports have yet to be completed. This is simply unacceptable.”

Among the projects awaiting SHOPP funding are the widening of the intersections at Branscombe Road, Lambie/Shiloh and SR 12, and Olsen Road and SR 12, as well as the construction of a retaining wall and the modification of drainage facilities. (A complete list of projects is attached.) The projects first appeared on the list of projects to be funded by SHOPP in 1998.