One of the strategic goals identified by the Transportation Agency Board of Directors is to deliver the Measure X regional program of projects, while strategically utilizing debt financing to expedite delivery, and leveraging as much matching funds as possible. California Senate Bill 1 (Beall) created new transportation funding programs, from which the Transportation Agency is able to leverage Measure X and other fund sources. To ensure coordination between the various fund sources, which all have different requirements and eligibility, the Transportation Agency prepared the 2021 Integrated Funding Plan that coincides with the 2022 State Transportation Improvement Program cycle.
The Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) is a program of highway, local road, transit and active transportation projects that a region plans to fund with State and Federal revenue programmed by the California Transportation Commission in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The RTIP is developed biennially by the regions and is due to the Commission by December 15 of every odd numbered year.
Staff's funding proposal for the 2022 Regional Transportation Improvement Program reflects TAMC’s dedication to improving statewide and regional travel by constructing high-priority highway, regional road, rail, and bicycle and pedestrian transportation projects throughout the region. To that end, the Transportation Agency selected projects to program in the 2022 Regional Transportation Improvement Program that are either ready for construction or moving through pre-construction phases; are regional priority projects in Measure X with multimodal features; are in the adopted or draft Sustainable Communities Strategy; and are excellent candidates for the Senate Bill 1 grant programs.
The 2021 Integrated Funding Plan project list was approved by the Transportation Agency Board at the May 26, 2021 meeting. The attached project list (Attachment 1) is a modified version showing updated project funding information. A summary of staff's new funding recommendations follows (new programming is underlined):
- Scenic State Route 68 Corridor: This project received $3.4 million of State Transportation Improvement Program funds in fiscal year 2018/19, along with $2.6 million of federal Highway Infrastructure Program funds, for the environmental phase. Caltrans has informed Agency staff that an additional $4.835 million will be necessary to complete the environmental phase to design and conduct environmental assessments on the roundabouts proposed for the corridor. Staff is proposing to use $799,000 of unprogrammed federal Highway Infrastructure Program funds, $2.087 million of 2022 State Transportation Improvement Program funds, and $1.949 million of unprogrammed State Local Partnership Program formula funds to cover this amount. The project also has an additional $18.6 million of State Transportation Improvement Program funds currently programmed in fiscal year 2022/23 for the final design ($6.518 million) and right-of-way ($12.085 million) phases. To cover the cost increases for final design, staff is proposing to re-program the right-of-way funds to final design and add $4.913 million of 2022 State Transportation Improvement Program funds for a total amount of $23.516 million and shift these funds to fiscal year 2023/24 to align with the current project schedule.
- US 101 South of Salinas Corridor: This project is currently programmed with $8.611 million of State Transportation Improvement Program funds for the environmental phase in fiscal year 2021/22. Staff is proposing to program $1.378 million of 2022 State Transportation Improvement Program funds in fiscal year 2022/23 to fully fund the environmental phase. Caltrans has the option to request these funds in an earlier fiscal year if the project moves ahead of schedule.
In addition to the new funding listed above, staff is proposing to carryover the funding programmed for the State Route 156 / Castroville Boulevard Interchange Project and Package 2 of the Monterey County Rail Extension project. Agency staff reviewed this proposal with the Executive Committee and Board of Directors at their October 2021 meetings. This finalized proposal as the Regional Transportation Improvement Program is the document the Agency is required to submit in order to receive the County's share of State Transportation Improvement Program funds. The Executive Summary is included as Attachment 2 and the full document is included as a web attachment. This document is required to be submitted to the California Transportation Commission by December 15th to have the Commission consider the funding proposal.