Hwy 116, West Cotati Ave. Would Get $2M Under Infrastructure Bill

COTATI, CA — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $715 billion infrastructure plan, and if the Senate passes it, it will mean $2 million for the state Highway 116/West Cotati Intersection Safety Improvement project.

If President Joe Biden signs it into law, it would be the nation’s largest infrastructure investment in about 75 years: a 50 percent increase over the last infrastructure budget, according to The New York Times.

California would be a big winner under the proposed law. The bill includes more than $900 million for projects throughout the Golden State. They include bridges, bike lanes and express lanes, railway expansions, electric vehicle charging stations, zero-emission transit fleets, tunnels, transportation hubs, wastewater and drinking water projects and other infrastructure to prepare for rising sea levels.

Locally, $2 million is earmarked in the bill for safety improvements to the intersection of state Highway 116 and West Cotati Avenue in Cotati. The funds were requested by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents Cotati in Congress.

Funds are also earmarked for SMART's Russian River Rail Bridge project in Healdsburg, for the Resilient SR 37 Corridor Enhancement in Sonoma, and the Napa Valley Vine Trail extension in St. Helena.

The surface transportation and water spending bill prioritizes a Democratic wish list of projects for combating climate change. Democratic legislators argued that the funding is needed to contend with the effects of climate change and reduce the nation's carbon footprint.

The unprecedented heat wave gripping the Pacific Northwest, killing dozens, added a sense of urgency among Democrats, who pushed the bill forward this week over Republican objections in the House.

“We have to rebuild in ways that we never even thought about before,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told The New York Times. “This is the moment. We have to be bold.”

Click here to see all California projects that would be funded under the current bill.

Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.