State hears what challenges Valley faces
In an effort to improve its ability to get transportation projects moving forward along with potential funding, officials from across the Imperial Valley held a town hall meeting with officials from the California Transportation Commission on Wednesday as they sought to familiarize them with local transportation needs and challenges.
The meeting was organized by the Imperial County Transportation Commission to have an indepth discussion with state officials about the most important transportation project the county is seeking to get underway.
During the meeting, ICTC Executive Director Mark Baza discussed with the CTC officials three of what he believes are the most important projects that are needed in the Valley, which include the widening of the Calexico east Port of Entry, the widening of Highway 98 and the Interstate 8-Imperial Avenue interchange in El Centro.
“It was an opportunity for us to share with the commissioners what are the things of most importance to us here in Imperial Valley, whether it’s our border crossings or high priority transportation projects that the CTC has to approve,” Baza said. “They manage some federal funds that are evaluated and distributed throughout the state and hopefully we will be pursuing some of those monies.”
During his presentation, Baza talked about the need of the widening of the bridge that passes over the All-American Canal at the east Port of Entry and the economic benefit it could have if more freight lanes are opened to facilitate the transportation of goods coming in and out of the Valley. Currently, the bridge only has one lane for trucks in each direction. The estimate to complete the project is at $30 million.
Other priorities that local officials talked about during the meeting include the widening of Highway 98, which currently has a shortfall of $10 million in funding, and the interchange at I-8 in El Centro, projects that Baza said would have a big positive impact as transportation corridors.
“We need as many advocates as we can get to understand the importance of that project and what economic benefit it would provide and what that would do in terms of transportation and the ease for folks to move north and south is a critically important project for Imperial County and not just El Centro,” said El Centro Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Viegas-Walker. “The more people that we can provide that information to advocate on our behalf is great for the Valley.”
Chair of the CTC, Bob Alvarado said that the big advantage of the meeting is that it allows him and the other commissioners to talk about the details of some of the projects and give them the possibility to offer feedback to county officials on how to approach each project before it is presented during a CTC meeting.
“Meetings like this allow us to kind of discuss the tiny details that often get lost in a big commission meeting,” Alvarado said. “This session really allows us to let them know where each project can go and what criteria they would need to meet.”
After Baza talked mentioned the top priorities for the region, CTC commissioners said they understood the value and importance of what local officials intend to accomplish but said it’s still early to make any firm commitments in terms of funding.
The day began with a presentation from the city of El Centro about their most recent efforts to improve biking and walking routes. Laurie Berman, Caltrans division 11 director talked about the ongoing upgrade at I-8 followed by the presentation by Baza and a Q&A session between officials in attendance.
As part of their visit, CTC commissioners will have a tour around both ports of entry in Calexico as well as the California Highway Patrol inspection facility today.
“They really wanted the opportunity to have a dialog with our region to get a better sense of what is important,” Baza said. “I think it was very valuable for us to have an opportunity to share this first-hand with them as opposed to the commission.”