The Ventura County Transportation Commission in California recently awarded an engineering contract to add carpool lanes to help relieve congestion on U.S. Highway 101.
The commission awarded a contract of up to $15.2 million to consulting firm WSP for preliminary engineering design and environmental consulting services for carpool lanes that would run north and south for 27 miles between S.R. 23 in Thousand Oaks and S.R. 33 in Ventura. The project has been planned for about five years.
The commission began soliciting proposals from engineering consulting firms in July with a due date of Sept. 28. It received five such proposals, and a consultant selection panel ranked WSP the highest.
The commission’s request for proposals noted that U.S. Highway 101 is the state’s major coastal north-south route that “connects Ventura County’s communities and the neighboring counties, and is part of local mobility and economic well-being.”
A new study done for the Southern California Association of Governments has found that 2.1 million household vehicles were added in Ventura County and five other Southern California counties from 2000-15, resulting in less public transit use and more traffic congestion.
The anticipated cost of the entire project is expected to be between $750 million to $2 billion.
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Source: VC Star
