County adds Alvarado Street sidewalks to RTIP

The County of San Diego added 31 projects to the Regional Transportation Improvement Program, including the construction of sidewalks along Alvarado Street from Brandon Road and Potter Street to Mercedes Road.

The addition to the projects to the Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) makes them eligible for Federal economic stimulus funding. “This step helps us try to qualify our projects for possible allocation,” said John Snyder, the director of the county’s Department of Public Works. “Hopefully we can use some of the stimulus funding, put it to good work.”

The Regional Transportation Improvement Program is coordinated by the San Diego Association of Governments. It is updated every other year but amended on a quarterly basis. The 5-0 vote February 25 by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors sends the county’s RTIP amendments to SANDAG, whose board is scheduled to approve the entire RTIP amendments April 24.

The RTIP amendments include the county’s expenditures of TransNet sales tax revenue. Because TransNet revenue forecasts have been decreased by approximately $3.5 million over the five-year current program period, the allocation adjustments include decreases in TransNet revenue for several projects throughout the county, although that decrease in TransNet funding is expected to be replaced by other road fund sources when such revenue becomes available.

The 31 projects recommended for addition to the RTIP are not considered capacity-increasing and consist of road, sidewalk, and intersection improvements along with recreational trails. All of those projects will have local funding matches. The Alvarado Street sidewalk project has an estimated construction cost of $670,000, and the county would provide $30,000.

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