California in US$ 2.2 billion transport funding

The US California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated US$ 2.2 billion in new funding to support road major building projects across the state.

The CTC approved US$ 190 million for the rehabilitation of 37 miles (59.5 km) of the Long Beach Freeway (I-710) from South Gate in southeast Los Angeles to Monterey Park in the west San Gabriel Valley.

Meanwhile, US$ 132 million was awarded for the construction of carpool lanes on US 1010 from Mussel Shoals in Ventura County on California's Pacific coast to the coastal Casitas Pass Road to the south.

Other major projects included a US$ 130 million plan to rehabilitate 127 miles (204 km) of the Golden State Freeway (I-5) from Vista Del Lago Road near the Chiquito Canyon area to the Kern County Line in California's southern Central Valley.

Another US$ 101 million project has been approved to rehabilitate 48 miles (77.2 km) of the Pomona Freeway (SR-60) from its estern junction with the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) to the Orange Freeway (SR-57) on the edge of the San Gabriel Valley in southern California.

The news comes as the latest figures from the US Department of Commerce's Census Bureau revealed that US construction spending decreased -4.7% year-on-year to a seasonally adjusted estimate of US$ 772 billion.

During the first six months of this year, US construction spending amounted to US$ 357.5 billion, -5.4% percent below the US$ 377.9 billion spend for the same period in 2010.