Road Projects May Be Delayed

State budget woes that could jeopardize billions of dollars in transportation funds threaten to delay several Ventura County highway widening projects even longer than the three to five years already expected, officials said Tuesday.

Projects on California 23 in Thousand Oaks, the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Simi Valley and the Lewis Road connector to Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo could be affected, said Peter De Haan, director of programming for the county Transportation Commission.

“There’s already a three- to five-year wait for each project and losing federal money would make it even longer,” said De Haan, who coordinates state funding for the local agency. He could not estimate how many more years the delay might be, saying there were too many unknowns.

In his proposed budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking to suspend voter-approved gas tax revenue intended for transportation. As a result, Southern California stands to lose $3.4 billion in transportation funding over the next six years.

Every state dollar lost can have a domino effect on federal matching funds. Although no one knows how much money Ventura County road projects stand to lose, federal support makes up 25% to 35% of Southern California’s transportation spending.

For example, in Ventura County, federal funding would comprise $10.5 million of the $42-million cost of widening California 23, said Keith Millhouse, chairman of the county Transportation Commission.

The Santa Clara River Bridge project -- which got underway last year -- would not be affected because its funding is already secured, De Haan said.

A recently announced one-year delay in completion of the bridge on the Ventura Freeway in Oxnard was caused by environmental concerns and bad weather, not money, he said. The $112-million bridge and freeway widening project is expected to be completed in 2007, according to the California Department of Transportation.

But the state budget crisis spells bad news for motorists in other parts of the county, said Millhouse, also a Moorpark city councilman.

“I’m very concerned because of how deep-seated the state budget cuts are,” he said. “In the past, the state has always attempted to not lose their federal funds. Now, all bets are off. There’s no money out there for transportation.”

Deferring projects also means increased costs for taxpayers, officials say.

Commissioners say a proposed half-cent sales tax increase could help offset the costs of delayed projects by raising an estimated $50 million a year for improvements to the county’s highway and public transit systems.

But a poll conducted in December showed that Ventura County voters would not favor such an increase.

When asked if they would support a half-cent sales-tax increase, 64% of those surveyed said yes, 30% said no and 6% had no opinion. The result was short of the 67% “yes” margin needed to pass an increase.

Ballot measures usually require at least 70% support in polls to succeed, said Jeff Raimundo, who conducted the poll for the Transportation Commission.

But with state budget cuts looming, the county must do a better job of explaining the importance of the proposed tax increase to voters, Millhouse said.

The commission will likely conduct another poll in May, after launching a countywide education campaign on the benefits of transportation improvements.