For once, the sluggish economy is working to the advantage of local government.
Placer County and state officials announced Monday that lower construction costs, caused by competitive bids from companies struggling to find work, will allow the county to widen the Interstate 80 bottleneck in Roseville for $86 million less than estimated.
Right now the price of construction has gone down," said Jim Earp, a California Transportation Commission member. "We're seeing this all over California as contractors who do public works projects are sharpening their pencils in this economy to get more work."
The infamous bottleneck occurred at the Sacramento/Placer county line, where I-80 was five lanes each way on Sacramento side and three lanes on the Placer side. Placer officials have worked for years to fix the situation.
The plan to add carpool lanes from the Sacramento County line to beyond the Highway 65 interchange was originally estimated to cost $210 million.
During a groundbreaking ceremony for the project's second phase, however, Placer County, state Transportation Department and state Transportation Commission officials said all four phases can be completed with $124 million in existing funds.
Officials earlier said the final phase of the project was likely to be on hold for decades because there was no way to raise the local money needed to secure crucial state and federal funds.
But the housing downturn resulted in more competitive bids, Placer County Transportation Planning Agency Executive Director Celia McAdam said.
The winning bid for the bottleneck project, for instance, came in 38 percent below estimate, she said.
"So we've got to strike while the iron's hot. … This summer is the time to go to construction if you can, because the prices are better than they've been in years. We're blessed in our timing," McAdam said.
Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, said bids statewide are coming in below estimates.
"It's a great opportunity to construct infrastructure in California and we're actually going to be able to do a little bit more than we intended," Gaines said.
The project's second phase, which kicked off Monday, will provide east and westbound carpool lanes from just west of the Auburn Boulevard interchange to Miners Ravine.
Next, the carpool lanes will be extended past Highway 65.
The project also will bring auxiliary lanes between on- and offramps that make it easier to merge without slowing traffic.
Local and state officials, however, warned that without a local funding source it's unlikely Placer County will see significant money for road projects for the next 20 years.
In addition to using federal funds and securing a large chunk of state transportation bond money, Placer borrowed against future gas tax dollars to help pay for the bottleneck project, as well as to build the Lincoln Bypass.
"The downside is there's no more serious money to look forward to," Earp said. "So if Placer County is to address other serious transportation needs, you're going to have to step up and put some local money into this."
Last year, Placer officials dropped a plan to put a transportation sales tax measure on the November 2008 ballot because polls showed there wasn't enough voter support.
Earlier this year, Sacramento and Placer county officials began looking at a 10-mile toll lane between the Highway 65 and Interstate 5 junctions.
Placer transportation planning agency officials have identified roughly $3.7 billion in transportation needs.
Call The Bee's Jennifer K. Morita, (916) 773-7388.
