SOLEDAD — Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) Board of Directors has approved the City of Soledad’s request to schedule Regional Surface Transportation Funds dedicated to its Participatory Budgeting process for four projects.
These projects include pedestrian improvements on Orchard Lane and Gabilan Drive for $63,000, Main Street and Gabilan Drive for $132,250, Benito Street and Gabilan Drive for $11,000, and Orchard Lane for $23,000.
The Participatory Budgeting process is a component of the Salinas Valley Safe Routes to School Plan for all public K-12 schools in the cities of Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and King City. Project prioritization is determined through a democratic process, called Participatory Budgeting, where community members vote to decide how public funds are spent in their cities.
“The process is designed to fast-track funding and implementation of Safe Routes to School projects that are meaningful to community members,” according to TAMC in a news release Feb. 28.
In October 2022, a Soledad Safe Routes to School Steering Committee was formed to assist in developing the process and engaging the greater community in identifying projects, creating a ballot and soliciting citywide votes to determine which projects to fund.
The Salinas Vally Safe Routes to School Plan is funded through a $664,127 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant and $126,501 of Measure X Safe Routes to School Program funds.
The projects selected through the Participatory Budgeting process are funded by $1 million ($250,000 for four cities) in Regional Surface Transportation Program Reserve funds from the fiscal year 2020-21 and 2022-23 program cycle.
