State budget stalemate delays 101 widening near Petaluma

<p>The state budget stalemate in Sacramento has delayed the beginning of Highway 101 construction in Petaluma, which was supposed to start this year.</p><p>Without a state budget, Caltrans has delayed requesting bids on the project, estimated to cost $22.8 million, because it is unable to sell bonds to finance the work.</p><p>“Our packet is sitting here ready to go out to bid and it can't,” said Suzanne Smith, executive director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. “Who knows how long this will go on, but it will sit there until they pass a budget and can sell bonds and make commitments. It is definitely a frustration.”</p><p>The project would widen Highway 101 with additional lanes in each direction from Pepper Road to Old Redwood Highway on the northern edge of Petaluma. It would extend the car-pool lanes now under construction in two projects from Wilfred Avenue to Pepper Road.</p><p>Smith said the delay could drive up costs.</p><p>“In this bid climate we want to get jobs out to bid and contractors lined up as soon as possible,” she said.</p><p>The recession is being credited with savings of $73 million in the cost of widening Highway 101 from Windsor to Steele Lane in Santa Rosa and from Wilfred Avenue to Pepper Road, which had been estimated to cost $328.2 million.</p><p>The state Transportation Commission had agreed to let Sonoma County keep those savings, which are $23 million in local Measure M sales tax revenue and $50 million in state highway funds, for future projects.</p><p>The savings are now earmarked for the Pepper Road-Old Redwood Highway widening and for a new interchange and overpass on Highway 101 at Airport Boulevard.</p><p>Smith said the Airport Boulevard interchange is being designed under a contract paid for with local Measure M funds, so is not yet impacted by the state budget problem.</p><p>The widening north of Petaluma could start three months after going out to bid, depending on the winter weather, Smith said.</p>