County lands $30.6m from state for rail crossing work

A state agency is sending $30.6 million to Tulare County to help fund a trio of highway railroad crossing projects.

The California Transportation Commission today approved funding for the three county projects.

With the state funding, which is contingent on a 50 percent local match, highway-railroad crossings at Bardsley and Cartmill avenues and Betty Drive will be improved.

The local match will be funded in part by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in November 2006 to fund transportation projects.

“This is great news for Tulare County. It’s another great example of how we are all working together to leverage Measure R funds,” Ted Smalley, executive director of the Tulare County Association of Governments, said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this month, CTC staff members had recommended that Tulare County be awarded funding for three grade separation projects from $250 million in Proposition 1B funding to improve highway-railroad crossings throughout the state.

Tulare County Dist. 5 Supervisor Mike Ennis, who serves as chairman of the county Association of Governments, the organization that coordinates regional transportation issues, said local cities and Tulare County have long wanted to improve safety at the three highway-railroad crossings.

“Completing these grade separations could save lives, and nothing is more important than keeping people safe,” Ennis said in prepared comments.

All three projects recommended for funding in Tulare County will improve highway-railroad crossings — reducing instances of pedestrian, vehicle and train incidents — and are scheduled to go to construction in June 2010. They include:

-- Bardsley Avenue grade separation, estimated to cost $14.4 million.

-- Cartmill Avenue grade separation, estimated to cost $22.7 million.

-- Betty Drive grade separation, estimated to cost $27.6 million.

Measure R regional project funding will provide a $7 million match for the Bardsley Avenue grade separation, allowing the city to build an underpass for the railroad at K Street. Measure R regional project funding will provide an $11 million match for the Cartmill Avenue grade separation, allowing the city to build an overpass for the railroad over J Street. Both projects will allow for easier access to Tulare District Hospital.

The Betty Drive project match will come from $700,000 in Measure R funding, $1.5 million from the City of Visalia and the remainder from the Tulare County Redevelopment Agency. The local match combined with state funding will allow for the construction of an underpass on Betty Drive.

Smalley said virtually every city within Tulare County is looking for ways to stretch transportation dollars.

-- Contact Glen Faison at 784-5000, Ext. 1040, or gfaison@portervillerecorder.com.