The California DOT (Caltrans) recently hit a record milestone: $15 billion in contracts under construction across the state. The state also reached a record 1,060 projects in progress across the state last month.
A large percentage of these projects, according got Caltrans, are under $10 million for opportunities for smaller and disadvantaged companies to bid on.
A report from the California Asphalt Paving Association (CalAPA) gave several reasons for the broken records, including:
- Investments from the $50 billion Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017
- Local investments via sales taxes devoted to transportation in 25 California counties
- Money from the $1.2 trillion federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act
“CalAPA continues to press for more investments in core pavement repair work, which is how SB1 (legislation that spends $5.4 billion a year for transportation projects by raising fuel sales taxes) was represented to voters and taxpayers. Some legislators have called for a suspension of fuel taxes to provide motorists relief at the pump,” said CalAPA in its report.
In its September Statement of Ongoing Contracts, Caltrans reported that, as of September 20, the state had a statewide total value of $14.1 billion in under-construction contracts and $8.5 billion in work completed. In the 30 days leading up to September 20, Caltrans saw $306 million of work completed.
Caltrans data also show monthly payments to contractors surpassed $568 million in August, up nearly $200 million from the same period in 2022.
