STANTON : Executive Supports Road Tax Increase

Without the money from a proposed half-cent sales tax increase, money for many of the county’s transportation projects would dry up by the first quarter of 1990, a construction industry executive told a Stanton audience.

Ronald D. Johnston, president of the California Asphalt Pavement Assn., told a meeting of the Stanton Chamber of Commerce that he would expect “a dry year with respect to construction” if voters reject Measure M.

The measure, which will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, would pay for freeway, transit system and local street improvements through a countywide half-cent sales tax increase.

Of most immediate concern to Stanton is the measure’s provisions for 21 “super-streets.” Construction is scheduled to begin this spring on short-term improvements to one such super-street, Beach Boulevard in Stanton. The Orange County Transportation Commission has recently begun a feasibility study for the possible designation of Katella Avenue as a super-street that also would cross through the city.

Some of the projects earmarked for funding by Measure M include widening parts of the Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Artesia and Orange freeways, and improving the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways’ interchange. It would also augment funding to develop or enhance commuter rail and bus transit systems, as well as to maintain and improve surface streets.