Highway 156/Castroville Boulevard Interchange Project receives $20 million in funding

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) The Measure X Highway 156/Castroville Boulevard Interchange Project is getting millions of dollars in funding.

According to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, the California Trasnportation Commission approved $20 million in funding, which is expected to fully fund the $29 million needed for construction.

“The residents and businesses of Monterey County, and especially those in North County have waited a long time for safety improvements along this major thoroughfare," said TAMC Executive Director Debbie Hale. "We are excited that the wait is over; and we look forward to working with Caltrans to construct the interchange in 2022.”

This specific project is part of the larger Highway 156 Corridor project. It is set to include a new 4-lane highway running parallel to the existing road, which would become a frontage road, and a new Highway 101/SR 146 interchange.

The funding is coming from the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program created under SB1, and it is intended to fund infrastructure improvements on federally designated trade corridors, the primary freight network and corridors with a high volume of freight movement. The project is part of this because Highway 156 facilitates the movement of goods for the $4.4 billion annual agricultural industry.