Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

The bill includes $18.5 million for an interchange that would connect Highway 132 with Highway 99 in Stanislaus County and $5 million to widen and reconstruct Arch-Sperry Road to improve the connection between Interstate 5 and Highway 99 in San Joaquin County. The legislation also provides $500,000 for a study to build a Highway 99 interchange between Highway 165 and Bradbury Road, near the Merced-Stanislaus County border.

"These projects are vital to building transportation infrastructure in the Valley and they help create jobs," said Cardoza, who was able to secure $10 million more for his district that most members of Congress. "This money will be put to good use in heavily traveled locations that desperately need upgrades."

The commitment to Highway 132, in particular, provides a major boost to efforts aimed at improving the dangerous roadway, which has become a vital transportation artery.

"The funds provide a long-needed jumpstart to meeting Stanislaus County’s and Modesto’s transportation problems," Stanislaus County Supervisor Jeff Grover said. "I believe it is the single largest allocation of federal money to a specific transportation project in county history. This is a giant step forward for our local economy and quality of life."

The $285 billion highway transit bill is H.R. 3550, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (TEA-LU) and the funds are authorized for six years. The Senate has already approved its version of the legislation, which includes $318 billion in funding.

Cardoza supported a motion that would have increased funding in the House version of the bill to the Senate level. "This increase in funding would create even more new jobs and is fully offset by cracking down on abusive tax shelters, preventing corporations from avoiding U.S. taxes by moving to a foreign country, and extending customs-user fees," Cardoza said.