California freight routes gain no new state funds

California freight routes gain no new state funds Southern California's strained freight highway routes will receive no new funds according to an updated California Transportation Committee list of funding grants released Tuesday.
   On Monday, the CTC announced that it would dole out an additional $1.7 billion in transportation funds that were to be set aside for disbursement in 2008. The additional funds will fully earmark the $4.5 billion for performance improvements on the state highway system that voters approved in November as part of a larger $19 billion infrastructure bond package.
   Two weeks ago, the CTC released a preliminary list of projects that it recommended for funding. The list fell well short of the 149 funding requests totaling more than $11.3 billion that county authorities had asked for.
   Tuesday's updated list added several major projects but capacity improvements to the area's common freight routes, called for by Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino county officials, were not included. More than $720 million of the newly added $1.7 billion will be allocated to Los Angeles County for a carpool lane on the I-405 Harbor Freeway. The Northern California Bay Area fared about $500 million better in the revised list, but the newly added projects are all for carpool projects or commuter flow improvements.
   The CTC is scheduled to formally approve the listed projects when it meets in Irvine on Wednesday. It has until Thursday to allot the $4.5 billion.