Senate OKs Funds Bill for Route 78 Widening

A $15-million federal allocation to widen traffic-choked California 78 moved one step away from reality Thursday as the Senate approved a multibillion-dollar highway financing bill.

With Senate approval of the bill on a 79-17 vote, the legislation now needs only to be signed by President Reagan to become law.

Reagan, however, has threatened to veto the legislation, an $86-billion financing package for highway construction throughout the nation, because he feels it is too costly.

But a spokesman for Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) said supporters of the legislation believe Reagan will not veto the bill because it enjoys wide support in both the Senate and House.

Richard Rice, a Packard spokesman, said lawmakers feel that a Reagan veto would be quickly overridden by Congress. The legislation is expected to be on Reagan’s desk by today or early next week, Rice said.

The funds would help finance the estimated $30-million cost of widening California 78 from four to six lanes along a 16.5-mile stretch between the coast and Escondido.

Once a relatively uncrowded route, California 78 in recent years has become North County’s most congested highway.

The number of cars using the freeway has skyrocketed as hospitals, shopping centers and subdivisions have sprung up along it. Traffic on the highway peaks at 80,000 cars on an average weekend. By the year 2005, that number is expected to climb to 112,000, according to officials at the San Diego Assn. of Governments.

As the volume of cars has increased, traffic accidents have also jumped, rising 30% in 1985 compared to an 8% increase for all of North County.

Packard began a push for the federal funds in 1985. Under his plan, California 78 was declared a “demonstration project,” thereby making it eligible for the federal highway money.

Last year, a federal bill that would have provided $12-million for the California 78 project was torpedoed when a House-Senate conference committee failed to reach a compromise on an overall highway financing package.

The legislation has fared better this year, in particular because Congress decided to vote separately on a controversial provision of the bill calling for increasing the federal speed limit to 65 m.p.h.

Packard said he expects planning for the California 78 project to take most of 1987, but that he would like to see construction begin before the end of the year.

The congressman planned to meet today with local and state lawmakers and highway officials to discuss ways to come up with the remainder of the money needed to finance the project.

Of the $15 million that still needs to be raised, the state is expected to fund about half. San Diego County, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside and Carlsbad would come up with the rest.

Federal funding for the project is spread over a five-year period, but Packard said he may return to Congress with new legislation to speed up the payments so work can be completed as quickly as possible.

If that cannot be accomplished, the state might be persuaded to foot a larger portion of the bill until all the federal money is allocated, Packard said.