County board to look at 2022-2023 road projects

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors will consider approval of more than $37.3 million in road projects at its next meeting.

Included in those projects are more than $10.4 million of road projects for Districts 1 and 5 in Southeastern Tulare County. The board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The board will consider all of the road projects as part of two separate measures. As part of its consent calendar the board will consider $17.1 million in road rehabilitation projects.

Then as a scheduled item the board will consider all of the $37.3 million in projects as part of the 2022-2023 County Transportation Improvement Program. Local funds, including Measure R funds, state funds, including funds from the gas tax, and federal funds will be used to fund the projects.

The Terra Bella area is set to receive two multi-million road projects, although construction on one of the projects isn’t anticipated to begin until the summer of 2024. That project, the $6.65 million Terra Bella Avenue Farm 2 Market Project will be divided into two segments and will be funded by Measure R and federal funds.

The project will be divided between Pixley between Park Drive and Road 192 and the Terra Bella portion will be on Avenue 96 between Road 208 and Highway 65. There has been more than $4.1 million budgeted in 2022-2023 for the Terra Bella portion of the project.

Another project set to be included in 2022/2023 is a $2.2 million road rehabilitation project for the Terra Bella area along Road 256 from Avenue 66 to

Avenue 95.

In addition another Farm 2 Market Corridor project in Woodville to deal with the impact on the roads that the expansion of the Woodville Landfill will have is included in the 2022-2023 plan. The Road 152 Farm 2 Market corridor between Avenue 160 and Avenue 168 and between Avenue 192 and Avenue 208 will be rehabilitated at a cost of $1.65 million. This area will be impacted by the Woodville Landfill expansion at the intersection of Road 152 and Avenue 200. Construction is anticipated for the summer of 2023.

Also the Terra Bella area is set to receive $140,000 for a road rehab project between Avenue 104 and Old Stage Road.

Road repairs are also set to be done on Bear Creek/balch Park Road at a cost of $250,000. In the Porterville area, road rehab is set to be done on Road 264 between Avenue 116 and Avenue 120 at a cost of $550,000. Blade patching will also be done in East Porterville at a cost of $100,000.

In District 1, a road rehab project is set in Poplar at Road 192 between Highway 190 and Avenue 152 at a cost of $650,000. Rehab work is also set to be done west of Strathmore on Road 224 between Avenue 192 and Avenue 196 at a cost of $140,000.

Two road rehab projects are set for Lindmore Street in the Lindsay area. One will be from Highway 65 to the Lindsay city limits at Road 216 at a cost of $275,000 and another will be between the Lindsay city limits west of Road 220 to Road 224 at a cost of $330,000.

Those two projects are set to be approved as part of the Consent Calendar as the bulk of the funding for those projects will come from the California Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation program to fun Road Repair and Accountability Act Projects. The county will receive $15.1 million from that state to fund the RRAA projects which will cost a total of $17.3 million. The Poplar project, the major Terra Bella project on Road 256 between Avenue 66 and Avenue 95 and the Porterville project on Road 264 between Avenue 116 and Avenue 120 are also all being funded as RRAA projects.

The remaining portion of the $17.3 million not covered by the state will be funded by county road fund reserves.