O.C. Gets $20 Million for Carpool Lanes
The federal government has released $20 million to build carpool lanes connecting the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways, officials announced Thursday.
The money will pay for the design and construction of the first phase of the connector ramps between freeways and an overpass, said John Standiford, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.
The cost of the three-phase project will be $409.3 million. The second and third phases will involve construction of additional ramps and connectors and of park-and-ride lots and the purchase of buses.
The Federal Transit Administration had withheld the grant for three years, saying it should be spent on rail and bus projects. The OCTA argued that diamond lanes serve buses and carpools.
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