SACRAMENTO, CA—Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) lead a successful lobbying effort by Orange County lawmakers to obtain $383.5 million in state bond funds from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to obtain state funding for five critical Orange County freeway projects.

“I am particularly excited about the CTC’s decision to answer the calls of myself and other Orange County legislators to give us $22 million in additional funding to add lanes to the State Route 91 (SR-91) freeway from State Route 55 to Gypsum Canyon,” said Assemblyman Jose Solorio, who sent letters to the California Transportation Commission and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last month.

In response to lobbying by Assemblyman Solorio and other Orange County transportation advocates, the CTC decided to increase the funding allocation for Orange County from $361.5 million to $383.5 million—to fund the $22 million Route 91 lane expansion project.  

Assemblyman Solorio, who serves on the Assembly Transportation Committee, personally gathered the signatures of all other Orange County Assembly members on the letters and also showed up to testify in support at two hearings held by the CTC in February. 

“I told the California Transportation Commission that they must fund the State Route 91 lane expansion project because it will save commuters more than 2.5 million minutes in commute time on a daily basis, a much greater time savings than any other project recommended for funding,” said Assemblyman Solorio, noting that Orange County’s share of the state’s population is 8.3 percent but the share of the funds received was 8.5%. 

A summary of projects approved for funding for Orange County by the California Transportation Commission follows:

$200 million    Garden Grove Freeway (SR-22): Add carpool connectors to the
San Diego (I-405) and San Gabriel River (I-605) freeways 
                       
$70 million      Orange Freeway (SR-57): Add northbound lane between the
Riverside Freeway (SR-91) and Lambert Road            
                         
$20 million      Orange Freeway (SR-57): Add northbound lane between
Katella and Lincoln avenues
                                                                       
$71.5 million   Riverside Freeway (SR-91): Add eastbound auxiliary lane
from Eastern Toll Road (SR-241) to Corona Expressway (SR-71) 

$22 million     Riverside Freeway (SR-91): Add lane in each direction between the Costa Mesa
            Freeway (SR-55) to Gypsum Canyon Road
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$383.5 million Total