SPI Insights

California – The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) released a list of more than $11 billion in near-term infrastructure projects on June 23 that could be funded by federal stimulus spending.

Titled “Ready for Recovery: A Call for Short-Term Strategic Investments in Infrastructure in the Greater Sacramento Region,” the list identifies hundreds of critical projects from 50 different agencies in SACOG’s six-county service area of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba and the 22 cities within those counties.

SACOG, along with partners Placer County Transportation Planning Agency and El Dorado County Transportation Commission, worked with several agencies beyond its usual transportation and land-use stakeholders to compile the list and send it to their Congressional delegation with the message that the region stands ready to move forward on infrastructure projects.

They grouped the projects into categories of:

• Regional Transportation Connectivity;
• Water Reliability & Storage;
• Emergency Preparedness & Climate Resilience;
• Infill Development & Affordable Housing;
• Future Mobility;
• Interregional & International Gateways;
• Trails, Recreation & Tourism
• High Speed Communications & Broadband;
• Fix-it-First; and,
• Local Connections.

Caltrans listed several major projects totaling $1.94 billion, including $586 million for managed lanes on Interstate 80, $466 million for its CapCity Managed Lanes project, $406 million for managed lanes on Interstate 5, and $86 million for improvements to the Sac-5 Corridor.

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) submitted several capital projects totaling more than $1.06 billion. Their requests include $872.71 million to build a third passenger rail track between Sacramento and Roseville and fund the South Bay Connect project which proposes to reroute Capitol Corridor service and to construct a new intermodal train station.

Sacramento Regional Transit District is seeking more than $633 million under the Fix-it-First category to purchase light rail vehicles and buses, upgrade its 30-year-old light rail infrastructure, and make safety, security, and passenger comfort improvements to the Watt/I-80 Light Rail Stations and transit center. It also is requesting $110 million for a downtown riverfront streetcar scoping project and vehicle maintenance and service facility.

Under the regional transportation connectivity category, the transit district submitted three projects to complete the estimated $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion extension of the Green Line from Township to the Sacramento International Airport.

The airport division of Sacramento County, which manages Sacramento International Airport, Mather Airport, Sacramento Executive Airport, and Franklin Field, requested more than $480 million for various infrastructure projects, including $81 million for a pedestrian walkway at the international airport.

A Regional San project would turn household wastewater into clean irrigation water for 16,000 acres of farmland south of Elk Grove, allowing the region to reduce the need to pump ground water during drought times. That water is treated at a lower level and sent into the Sacramento River. The project manager said federal funds would accelerate the already largely funded $375 million project to potential construction and water delivery by 2023.

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency is seeking $300 million in federal funding for its American River Watershed Common Features Natomas Basin Project that would build levee improvements around the 42-mile basin perimeter.

More than $223 million in funding for the I Street Bridge replacement project was requested by the city of Sacramento, which also sought $39.6 million for Interstate 5 at Richards Boulevard interchange improvements.

El Dorado County is asking for almost $120 million to fund several Fix-it-First road, highway, and transit repairs, including $82 million to replace the Mosquito Road Bridge at South Fork American River Bridge, and Placer County is seeking $90.31 million to construct a new health and human services facility.