Transportation projects to compete for grant money

An Amtrak train passes by near the Suisun City train station Thursday. Suisun City is requesting grant money for improvements in bicycle and pedestrian access to the station as well as an extension of Railroad Avenue, seen in the upper right portion of the frame, to Main Street. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield wants money for its West Texas Street gateway, Suisun City for a Railroad Avenue extension, Vacaville for a Ulatis Creek bike path and other local cities and the county for other transportation projects.

The Solano Transportation Authority in coming months will decide which projects get $6.2 million in One Bay Area grant money. A committee of public works officials on Wednesday heard how the agency is putting together grant criteria and assessing the proposed projects.

“There will be a little jockeying because each city is trying to get some project they want (funded),” Solano Transportation Authority Executive Director Daryl Halls said Thursday. “A lot of projects are good projects, but they may not be a good fit for this fund source.”

The Solano Transportation Authority board of directors will discuss the project assessments and criteria Wednesday. It meets at 6 p.m. at Suisun City Hall, 701 Civic Center Blvd. It could allot the grant money in February.

One Bay Area is the regional offshoot of the state’s efforts to link transportation and land use planning and to reduce greenhouse gases. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has put various federal transportation funds into the One Bay Area grant program to further the state’s vision.

“It’s not new money,” Halls said.

But the way it gets dispersed is different, with the Solano Transportation Authority having a bigger role. The agency is governed by the mayors of the seven Solano County cities and a Solano County supervisor.

Solano County will get an estimated $18.7 million in One Bay Area grant money over four years. The Solano Transportation Authority board of directors has already alloted $12.6 million for such projects as local streets and roads, planning efforts, Solano Napa commuter information and the proposed pedestrian and bicycle railroad undercrossing at West B Street in Dixon.

Now the agency is getting ready to allot that final $6.1 million. Of that amount, $5.6 million is from federal Congestion Management and Air Quality funds that can be spent on projects involving pedestrian and bicycle facilities, among other things. The remainder is federal Surface Transportation Program money that can be spent on such things as roads, mass transit and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

Local cities and the county last year submitted lists of possible projects. Seventeen potential projects remain and these come to more than $14 million in One Bay Area grant requests. Among them is $2 million to help improve the sidewalks and crosswalks near the Fairfield Transportation Center, $1.5 million to help extend Railroad Avenue in Suisun City for 1,500 feet west to Main Street and $320,000 to help build 850 feet of a promenade along the Sacramento River in Rio Vista.

Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929 or beberling@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beberlingdr.

Barry Eberling

Barry Eberling has been a reporter with the Daily Republic since 1987. He covers Solano County government, transportation, growth and the environment. He received his bachelors of art degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.

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