Burbank pedestrian-bridge project in jeopardy after cuts in state funding

Funding for a Metro project to build a pedestrian bridge over Empire Avenue in Burbank, connecting the Metrolink station with Bob Hope Airport, may be on the chopping block after the California Transportation Commission last week slashed funding estimates for the state’s road and transit projects by $754 million over the next five years.

It’s the largest cut to the program in two decades, state officials have said, and is the result of the expected loss of gas tax revenues — the main source of the program’s funding. The state estimates those revenues will drop 2 cents a gallon in the coming fiscal year.

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For each penny decrease in gas-tax revenues, funds for state and local roads fall by about $140 million per year, according to a statement announcing the cuts. In August, the commission approved a funding estimate for 2016 that would not have allowed any new projects, but revisions this month require the commission to rescind funding for some projects already approved.

A Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit official said that could cut L.A. County’s share of the funding program roughly in half, putting at risk the $7 million airport pedestrian-bridge project, which was funded in 2014, as well as more than $129 million allocated for the purchase of light-rail vehicles and nearly $56 million for the widening of two sections of Route 138.

“No decisions have been made, and the Metro board may look at the matter at its February meeting,” said Paul Gonzales, a Metro spokesman, in an email this week. The board is currently slated to meet on Feb. 25.

Metro has been working with the commission to minimize the impacts of the cuts, he said.

Almost every county in California that relies on the state funding “will have to cut or delay projects indefinitely,” said commission Chair Lucy Dunn. The commission is expected to adopt the funding program for 2016 transit projects later this spring.

The state’s transportation commission said in a statement last week that California’s funding cuts will have “dramatic effects” given the fact that many projects are funded from multiple sources, with total impacts potentially running into the billions due to the costs of delays and loss of construction jobs.

Funding for the Burbank airport pedestrian bridge, as approved in 2014, included roughly $10.5 million from Measure R and State Proposition 1B that had been earmarked for Metro use.

State legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown are seeking to reform the way California’s transportation projects are funded, with some calling for added taxes and fees, while others say the needs should be met without raising taxes.

Dunn said that if legislators cannot reach an agreement on reforms and funding increases, “I fear we will be faced with even more Draconian cuts next year.”

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Chad Garland, [email protected]

Twitter: @chadgarland