January 31
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has announced funding of $7 million expected to be approved at their January 29 meeting in Sacramento for the Cartmill Interchange project in Tulare. Local officials had been told the item would be on the agenda this month and the agenda,published a few days ago, did not disappoint.
The good news means Tulare City Engineer Mike Whitlock will go to the City Council in February to get approval to bid out the $27 million interchange.
“The bidding atmosphere is still very competitive although not as favorable as it was few years ago” says Whitlock. The important interchange on the north end of the city has been in the planning stage for a decade with the city scrambling in the past few years to fund a shortfall in the budget.
“We would hope to award the bid by April and be underway by July” adds Whitlock. He says construction could take about a year.
The interchange could mean more retail projects including new big box stores for the northern entrance to the city as well as better access to the city’s important tourist draw – the Tulare Outlet Mall.
What was a rural interchange out in the country now figures into the city’s economic development strategy.
Tulare Mayor David Macedo says “I think when we look back at this project 20 to 30 years from now we will see this is a big event in Tulare’s history. This interchange will attract major retailers that will be a big economic driver for Tulare.” All four corners of the interchange are relatively undeveloped (see map).
CalTrans plans to widen Highway 99 through Tulare in coming years with the construction scheduled recently moved up.
Engineer Whitlock won’t be here to see the interchange transformed since he is joining a SF-based engineering firm Mendoza and Associates – a firm bidding on construction contracts for the high speed rail through Kings and Tulare and Kern counties. He leaves the city in March.