A key traffic project on Highway 156 has new life, and a lot more money.

In December 2020, the California Transportation Commission approved $20 million for a project that had been in work for over a decade: A complete overhaul of the intersection of Castroville Boulevard and Highway 156, where the existing traffic light would be removed and replaced with an interchange, with on- and offramps for vehicles to merge onto the highway at speed.

But a few years went by and PG&E, despite pressing by Caltrans – which is co-sponsoring the project with the Transportation Agency for Monterey County – failed to assess the cost to relocate a high-pressure gas line, and TAMC was never able to put the project out to bid before losing the CTC grant, which had subsequently been increased to $28 million due to rising costs: The project was estimated to cost $29.5 million in 2019 and increased to $47.5 million by 2023, and has now increased to $126 million, largely because when PG&E finally completed its assessment it realized the gas line installation would be far more costly than Caltrans and TAMC estimates.

Despite the ballooning price tag, the project remains very much alive, and when the CTC meets June 26-27 in Sacramento, the project will be included on a slate of projects that CTC staff is recommending for funding. CTC staff now recommends granting $80.3 million to the project (the remaining shortfall will come from other state and federal funds, as well as $15 million of local funding).

“That’s the problem with not having the money to build a project – escalation is about 3 percent every year,” says TAMC Executive Director Todd Muck. “When you’re talking about a big project, it’s a lot of money.”

CTC staff’s short note about the project says it will remove a “key bottleneck” along the highway, noting that a bridge over the highway will eliminate conflict points and improve truck speeds and throughput.

TAMC estimates the project will prevent 4.6 “serious” collisions per year.