of Making 99 an Interstate
By Miles Shuper
California - Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Visalia) and Rep. Jim Costa, (D-Fresno) can't understand why their push to keep open the door for Highway 99 to someday achieve interstate status isn't being backed by all Valley officials.
Only two counties, Tulare and Fresno, support a bid by Nunes and Costa to have certain interstate requirements waived as part of a bill they want included in the huge transportation bill planned by Congress this year. The current legislation expires Sept. 30, providing lawmakers with updating plans for the 46,000 miles of interstate highways in addition to mass transit and other projects.
Last month, the Tulare County Association
of Governments (TCAG) and Fresno's similar agency backed the draft proposals
by Nunes and Costa while Kern, Merced, Madera, Stanislaus, San Joaquin
and Sacramento county agencies voted their opposition. The bill would
ease or eliminate some usual interstate standards such as bridge heights,
paved shoulders, the number of lanes and other requirements. This would
allow California to delay meeting those standards until it could be incorporated
into regularly planned updating and maintenance projects.
Nunes and Costa say Caltrans and state lawmakers representing large population
and voter districts are bullying the Valley counties with threats of costs
and diversion of federal monies for other transportation needs.
The lack of support openly irritates
Nunes who says county and city officials are “listening too much
to what Caltrans is telling them” and not aware enough to realize
they are being pressured into not supporting the bill. Valley officials
are being brainwashed by those wanting transportation monies to flow their
way, he says.
If fewer funds would be available for the other 2,455 miles of interstate
within California, it's easy to see why there is less enthusiasm from
outside the Valley for Highway 99.
That, Nunes says, is what is so frustrating about the lack of Valley support for the measure he and Costa are pushing hard.
Nunes said that while Valley residents constantly complain about the condition and traffic and safety of Highway 99, their local elected officials “say they don't want this.”
Opponents claim there are no guarantees that any waivers would be included even if interstate designation comes.
At the same time, some Valley officials question the potential economic benefits of interstate status while others see it as a plus.
Again expressing his displeasure for lack of Valley support, Nunes said, “It's as simple as black and white” for local officials to realize the “door needs to be kept open” via his bill for whenever Highway 99 meets interstate standards.
He said current and future Highway 99 improvement and maintenance projects already are making it closer to interstate status. Having the waivers and provision of the bill just makes good sense, he said
The above story is the property
of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit
permission in writing from the publisher.