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Saving Hwy. 12

Whether the Springs’ Highway 12 project is on hold or circling the drain, proponents aren’t about to let the project die without a fight.

The Highway 12 project is in jeopardy because the state dissolved redevelopment agencies statewide, as of Wednesday, Feb. 1, and it was the county’s redevelopment agency that was responsible for the project.

Phase II of the project, from Boyes Boulevard to Agua Caliente Road, was scheduled to go out to bid sometime this spring with construction set to start in the summer.

First District Supervisor Valerie Brown, who has been a fervent proponent of the project, said funding is going to be a problem, since the money that was allocated for the project was lost as a result of the recent state Supreme Court decision that allowed the state to dissolve redevelopment agencies.

“This isn’t going to be as easy as it was before,” Brown said. “We’re not talking about thousands of dollars, we’re talking about millions of dollars.”

But Brown isn’t wavering in her commitment to the project. “This may have to be done in stages,” she said.

Brown said the project will be a priority for her until her term is up in December. “And I hope it will be a key priority of whomever succeeds me,” she said. “This is huge for the Springs. And it’s not controversial.”

The Springs Community Alliance is also stepping up in hopes of ensuring the project moves forward.

Steve Cox, chair of both the now dissolved Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee and the Springs Community Alliance, wants to explore any and all means to keep the project going.

“We have a design, we have right-of-way acquisition figured out and the project is well-suited to phased construction. If some of the taxes that used to go to redevelopment can be preserved for the project, my hope is that, if we can’t continue with the project as a whole, we can finish it piece-by-piece,” he said.

John Haig, the county’s redevelopment manager, said there’s a good argument to keep the project going.

“We’ve covered all the pre-development costs, we’ve got the design, the rights-of-way and the money,” he said. “We were ready to bid this in the spring and expected construction to start in July.”

Last January, when Gov. Jerry Brown proposed ending redevelopment agencies and using the money to balance the badly-out-of-whack state budget, the redevelopment agencies filed suit and all contracts were frozen. When the state Supreme Court handed down its ruling on the matter in December, it allowed the state to dissolve the redevelopment agencies and it ruled that a concurrent law that sharply reduced redevelopment income was unconstitutional.

“I’m hoping that the Supervisors will decide that it’s in the best interest to finish the project,” Haig said. “It’s so important.”

He pointed out that the Highway 12 project is the only state highway project that was funded by redevelopment funds.

The county Public Works Department sent the plans and the environmental permit applications off to Caltrans last week.

So far, the county has 81 of the 84 rights-of-way along the corridor and the last three are headed for eminent domain. But those three will be put on the back burner until the dust settles.

“We’d prefer that we get them all (the rights-of-way) so that we’re all set when the project goes forward,” said Tom O’Kane, deputy director of public works.

He’s hopeful funding will be found to finish the project.

“The longer it’s shut down, the longer it’ll take to get it restarted,” O’Kane added.