Costa, California lawmakers urge expedited federal support for CalTrans in response to winter storms

WASHINGTON - Congressman Jim Costa and over 30 members of Congress wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) Shailen Bhatt to request expedited support, funding, and other assistance to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in response to the ongoing winter storms that have severely damaged road and highway infrastructure across the state.  Funding can be used to for the repair or reconstruction of Federal highways and roads on Federal lands which have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters.

“With this extreme rainfall, communities have experienced widespread flooding especially along the coast, and at some watersheds,” the leaders wrote.  “This series of weather events has already caused extensive damage to California state highways, and we expect additional reports of infrastructure damage in the coming weeks.”

The leaders continued, “We urge you to expedite FHWA support, funding, and other resources in response to these ongoing winter storms.  We encourage full cooperation across agencies and municipalities to ensure that Californians can continue withstand and recover from this storm.”

Read the full letter here.