Prop. 6 Would Eliminate Nearly $2 Billion in Existing Funding for the Central Valley Say Leaders at Events in Fresno and Bakersfield

Statewide, Prop. 6 eliminates more than $5 billion annually in existing transportation funds and stops funding for more than 6,500 bridge and road safety, transportation and public transit improvement projects currently underway throughout California.
 
Fresno
 
Over 750 vital road and transportation safety projects would be jeopardized in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono and Tulare Counties unless voters reject Prop. 6. That’s the message Fresno City Council President Esmeralda Soria delivered on Wednesday, Oct. 10 in Fresno. The council president joined several speakers at a press conference held adjacent to a bridge in Fresno that has been rated structurally deficient by the Federal Highway Administration.
 
“I stand here today with folks representing local government, public safety, civil rights groups and working people who oppose Prop. 6,” said Council President Soria. “We all urge No on Prop. 6 because it will stop critical transportation projects and jeopardize the safety of our bridges and roads.”
 
In the Central San Joaquin Valley, Prop. 6 would eliminate more than $1.2 billion in funding in the next decade.

In Fresno, existing transportation funds are already transforming the community, such as:

• Repaving and resurfacing sections of Highway 99 in the City of Fresno;
• Revamping 28 bridges on Highways 41, 168 and 180 and 16 bridges on Interstate 5 in Fresno County;
• Procuring six zero-emission battery-electric buses and extending 15-min service connecting Southwest Fresno to the northern part of Fresno and creating a new route providing access to job centers; and
• Making traffic signal improvements at the Belmont/Fulton intersection in Fresno.

Other speakers in Fresno included:

• Samuel Molina, California state director, Mi Familia Vota;
• Chuck Riojas, secretary/treasurer, Building & Construction Trades Council of Fresno, Madera, Tulare & Kings County; and
• Sean Edwards, firefighter.

Bakersfield
 
In Kern and Inyo counties, Prop. 6 would put at risk over 200 road projects and eliminate over $450 million in existing local transportation funding. Bakersfield alone has 19 structurally deficient bridges.
 
Arvin Mayor Jose Gurrola and Wasco Mayor Pro Tem Alex Garcia joined engineers, firefighters, community leaders and labor at a press conference on Oct. 11 in Bakersfield to discuss how Prop. 6 would harm the region.
 
“If Prop. 6 passes, critical construction will come to a grinding halt in every city and county in the state, wasting money and making road conditions even worse, in Kern County and across the state,” said Mayor Pro Tem Garcia. 
 
“I stand here today with folks representing local government, public safety, community groups, engineers and working people who oppose Prop 6,” said Arvin Mayor Gurrola. “We all urge NO on Prop 6 because it will stop critical transportation projects and jeopardize the safety of our bridges and roads.”

Prop. 6 jeopardizes hundreds of projects throughout the region that are transforming Kern County, including:

• More than 50 miles of pavement preservation and improvements on Interstate 5;
• Over 18 miles of pavement improvements and widening of shoulders on south of Hickory Lane to north of East Brundage Lane near Bakersfield;
• 22 pavement improvement projects in the City of Ridgecrest; and
• Replacing 10 miles of pavement on Highway 58 from the Interstate 99 and Highway 58 separation to Cottonwood Road.

Other speakers in Bakersfield included:

• Doug Kessler, Si Se Puede Foundation of Fresno, Madera, Kern and Kings;
• John Spaulding, Kern, Inyo and Mono County Building and Construction Trades Council; and
• Tim Ortiz, Bakersfield Firefighters.