RELIEF EN ROUTE TO THE 405 BOND MONEY DETOURED AWAY FROM VALLEY'S I-5 SECTION.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- State transportation officials allocating billion of dollars in bond revenues to ease California's legendary gridlock have snubbed a key project on Interstate 5, where thousands of motorists travel daily through the East San Fernando Valley.

Local MTA officials had sought $1.8 billion for freeway improvements in Los Angeles County, but Caltrans has recommended allocating just $1.5 billion.

While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would get the $730 million requested to build a badly needed car-pool lane on the northbound San Diego Freeway, no money was recommended to help build a similar lane on the Golden State Freeway between the 134 and 170 freeways, which stretch through Sun Valley, Burbank and Glendale.

Additionally, a project to widen Route 138, a two-lane highway that provides a popular alternative for Las Vegas-bound motorists, would get just a fraction of the requested funding.

``The perception is that you never get your fair share, there's never enough money,'' said Brendan Huffman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. ``I'm sure there are going to be a lot of shortfalls in the allocations because the need is so great.''

The California Transportation Commission is scheduled in late February to allocate money from the $4.5 billion Corridor Mobility Improvement Account -- the first round of funding from the $19.9 billion transportation bond.

Huffman said even though the I-5 car-pool lane didn't make the initial cut, he is glad the San Diego Freeway is still on the list.

``The 405 has regional importance. It also has national importance. So much of the nation's goods movement occurs on that corridor,'' Huffman said.

``There's not enough money for everything. It's unfortunate we didn't get the money for the I-5, but on the bright side, we can get some for the 405.''

Bonds would pay half

Overall, the MTA, which is responsible for the county's transit infrastructure, submitted six projects for funding. The bonds would have paid about $1.8 billion toward the $3.6 billion cost of the projects.

In forwarding its recommendations to the state commission, the California Department of Transportation pared the MTA request by about $300 million.

That eliminated $73 million sought to help build the $606 million I-5 car-pool lane.

Caltrans also scaled back a request to widen Route138, also called Pearblossom Highway, which sees heavy truck traffic and a relatively high accident rate. The MTA had sought $111million toward the $138 million project, but Caltrans recommended just $15.8 million.

MTA officials said that even without Caltrans' recommendation, they can lobby the Transportation Commission in the hope of getting funding for the local projects.

While MTA officials plan to seek alternate funding sources and to apply for future bond disbursements, they said the local projects could be delayed without the initial infusion of cash.

``The (lack of) Caltrans' blessing does not rule us out yet, but it does make it a little harder to make our case for these projects that were on the short list,'' said David Yale, the MTA's director of regional programming.

Following a formula

Caltrans officials said that in allocating funding for this portion of the bond funds, they will follow a formula that gives Southern California 60percent of the $4.5 billion revenue pot, with Northern California getting the balance.

Because of its size and the scope of its problems, Los Angeles County can expect to receive about one-third of the total.

``There's not a lot of room here to play pork-barrel politics,'' Caltrans spokesman David Anderson said. ``It's established formula, and for the most part it's the regular process, to provide the public with the accountability they deserve.''

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, said he expects the state Transportation Commission to make its decisions based on need rather than politics.

``It's clear that lessons have been learned. One is that the people want to see the bonds that were approved translated into specific projects sooner rather than later,'' he said.

Still, local elected officials hope to be able to convince the Transportation Commission of the critical need for local projects.

Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, for example, said he frequently travels Route 138 and understands the need to widen the highway. He noted, however, that millions of dollars have already been secured to make some improvements to the two-lane thoroughfare.

``This is just basically the first crack at the bond money that the voters passed in November,'' he said. ``We'll come back and try both the additional bond dollar pots that are available, and the ongoing funding that we have with (the gasoline-tax measure) Proposition 42 and other funding sources.''

Once the Corridor Mobility Improvement money is disbursed, several new rounds of funding will quickly follow, officials said, including:

$2 billion for the State Transportation Improvement Program. About $500 million will go to projects of statewide interest, with the rest distributed to counties, based on population and the number of registered vehicles. Los Angeles County, the nation's largest, is expected to get a substantial share for its project list.

$750 million for the State Highway Operation and Protection Program. About $500 million will go to improve and maintain freeways, with the rest paying for traffic light synchronization programs. Los Angeles is expected to get a sizable portion because of its major synchronization efforts.

$2 billion for local streets. The money will be distributed by the state controller based on formulas using population, lane miles and registered vehicles. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed spending $600 million in the fiscal 2007-08 budget, so the money cannot be spent until July 1 or later.

$3.6 billion for public transit and rail projects. The money would be distributed by the state controller, based on various formulas. Schwarzenegger had proposed spending $600 million in 2007-08.

Other parts of the transportation bond go toward rail projects, goods movement, port security, bridge retrofits, air quality and school buses.

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: MTA, Caltrans

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