BUENA PARK : City Joins Freeway Improvement Effort
The city will join Anaheim and others to bid for a state grant to improve a stretch of the Santa Ana Freeway.
County, state and city officials have spent two years designing the walls, columns, lighting and landscaping that will give the freeway “a distinct and attractive appearance,†according to a staff report on the project.
City Council members voted 4 to 1 Monday to add $120,000 from 1996-97 capital improvement funds to the $10-million effort.
The project will be administered by the California Department of Transportation. The cities are seeking to match $200 million that Congress set aside in 1991 for transportation projects.
Fullerton and Orange are also being asked to guarantee matching funds, said Donald K. Jensen, Buena Park’s public works director.
Mayor Don R. Griffin said he supports the project because the freeway “has needed improvement for quite some time.â€
Councilman Arthur C. Brown voted against putting up city funds, which would be drawn from gas-tax coffers, saying that he does not trust Caltrans to complete the project.
The council backed the project, though, and also voted to join Caltrans and Anaheim in seeking a similar grant to landscape medians on Beach Boulevard.
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