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Group targets Hwy. 12 project

Almost two-dozen Springs residents suggested a number of ideas Thursday to find a way to fund the unfinished portion of the Highway 12 project.

The funding for the project evaporated on Feb. 1, when the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies were dissolved. In 2008, the county sold $15 million worth of bonds to fund the project, but now, whatever is left will go into a pool and be redistributed to various taxing agencies such as school districts and fire districts.

But Thursday night, the Springs Community Alliance decided to do whatever needs to be done to finish the sidewalks and streetlights from Boyes Boulevard to Agua Caliente Road.

Steve Cox, who is the chair of the group and was also the chair for the Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee before it too was dissolved, was encouraged by the turnout.

“We had high energy and enthusiasm,” he said. “And I think interest will grow as we get the word out.”

The ideas ranged from lobbying and writing state legislators, to an “Occupy Highway 12” march to demonstrate the point that pedestrians take their life in their hands walking along the corridor.

Al Lerma, the county’s redevelopment assistant, said that there’s still a lot of support for the project at the county – especially with the Board of Supervisors. “And this is a very high priority item for (1st District Supervisor) Valerie Brown. But we have no funding source,” Lerma said. “We anticipated going out to bid this spring with construction to start this summer. But right now, we’re at a standstill until we get some guidance.”

Lerma said he had no estimate what Phase II would cost, but the county redevelopment agency had $10.5 million set aside for the project. He said the agency spent about $2.2 million in the last year on various “soft” costs including rights-of-way.

Cox said the one thing that would probably help most would be for the legislature to enact some “clean-up” legislation that might preserve funding for the project.

He pointed out that all the prep work is done, the plans and permits are in Caltrans’ hands and the project is “shovel ready.” He said it’s taken a number of years to get this far, but the plans and permits have a shelf life. “We have a list of assets,” he said. “But some of those assets will expire.”

Lerma told the participants that the project is the only highway project in the state that’s being funded by redevelopment money.

The group, Cox said, needs to contact local, state and even federal legislators. “If we can’t break the logjam, we may have to go to Caltrans or the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). We need to be on the radar of state politicians,” he said.

Participants said they would lobby their organizations to make the project a priority and send individual letters and letters from organizations backing the project.

And Cox told the group that the upcoming 1st District Supervisorial primary was on the horizon and that all of the candidates should be put on the spot.

While he didn’t necessarily think the “occupy” idea was at the top of the list, he didn’t discount it as a tool either.

“The solution may not be as hard as we think,” Cox said. “But if we run into difficulty, I think the importance of the Highway 12 project is great enough, and recent events so patently unfair, that it’s good to keep the ‘occupy’ option alive.”

The group will meet again the first Thursday of March.