" Brown at first was opposed to toll lanes, but said she changed her view when she found out gas tax revenue has remained flat and is no longer enough to cover transportation needs," reported Stephen Wall for The Press-Enterprise. Motorists and legislators may not like tolls, but when the project was planned, there wasn't funding available to widen the interstate with general purpose (unpriced and unmanaged) or carpool lanes.įormer Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, who introduced the enabling legislation in February 2015 to allow the San Bernardino County Transportation Commission, the predecessor of SBCTA, to build and operate the I-10 toll lanes, did not like the idea of charging motorists to drive on the new lanes. "The TIFIA loan will be repaid primarily from toll revenues generated by the project," states a Sentinel News Service article on the funding award. ![]() Population projections show the Inland Empire growing from 4.5 million to 7 million people within 30 years. "As the Inland Empire’s economy and population continue to grow, it’s important that we find ways to increase mobility throughout the region." “The closing of the TIFIA loan is a major milestone for the I-10 Corridor Project and underscores the importance of that stretch of interstate to the entire country," said Rep. The low-interest federal loan, which closed on Friday, is through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and represents about one-fourth of the project’s overall $929 million anticipated cost. The express lanes, which should open for service in 2023, will apply congestion pricing to toll-paying single-occupant-vehicles and be free to carpools of three or more occupants. Planned by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), construction of the approximately 10 miles of express lanes along the I-10 in each direction from the Los Angeles County line to Interstate 15 will start early next year. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau, which promotes transportation infrastructure development projects in the United States by facilitating financing opportunities, finalized a direct loan of $225 million for the Interstate 10 Corridor Project in San Bernardino County, according to a press release posted by InlandEmpire.US on May 2.
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