The agency that oversees the Sacramento region’s transportation projects is adding carpool lanes to both directions of I-80 throughout the area. So far, the freeway only has them from Watt Avenue to the Placer County line. An extension from Watt to the Sacramento River hadn’t been scheduled for completion until 2015.

 

That’s what makes this week’s $65 million state grant so timely. It’ll let construction get under way next March – well ahead of schedule. It’ll also let managers use local funds originally set aside for the I-80 carpool lanes for a similar project on I-5 – speeding up that work as well.

 

The money comes from cost savings left over from Proposition 1B. That’s the transportation bond approved by California voters in 2006.