VTA Receives Major Funding To Improve South Bay Congestion
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – There is more good news for commuters in the South Bay as the state is pumping millions of dollars into traffic improvement projects in Santa Clara County.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is receiving more than $150 million from the state.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
$85 million will be used to add carpool and merging lanes on Highway 101 between Highway 85 in Mountain View and the Embarcadero Road exit in Palo Alto. And the other $71 million will be used to expand Interstate 880 from six to eight lanes between the Highway 237 interchange in Milpitas and the 101 interchange in San Jose.
Commuter Sam Finnien said he is all for the improvements.
"It sounds good to me. More lanes are better than less right?" he said.
VTA spokesperson Brandi Childress said they did not anticipate getting another $150 million from the state after getting $50 million for the Bay Area Rapid Transit to San Jose project last week.
"We found out that the CTC (California Transportation Commission) has some money left over from the last bond sale and that money was awarded to us," said Childress. "This will allow us to start construction right away."
Construction is expected to begin early next year and the projects are scheduled to be completed sometime in early 2014.
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