Pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11053 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, two hundred fifty million dollars ($250,000,000) in the State Highway Account shall be available for appropriation to the Department of Transportation in each annual Budget Act for the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program. Funds made available for the program shall be allocated by the California Transportation Commission to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors throughout the state. Funding shall be available for projects that make specific performance improvements and are part of a comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors by providing more transportation choices for residents, commuters, and visitors to the area of the corridor while preserving the character of the local community and creating opportunities for neighborhood enhancement projects. In order to mitigate increases in vehicle miles traveled, greenhouse gases, and air pollution, highway lane capacity-increasing projects funded by this program shall be limited to high-occupancy vehicle lanes, managed lanes as defined in Section 14106 of the Government Code, and other non-general purpose lane improvements primarily designed to improve safety for all modes of travel, such as auxiliary lanes, truck climbing lanes, or dedicated bicycle lanes. Project elements within the corridor plans may include improvements to state highways, local streets and roads, public transit facilities, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and restoration or preservation work that protects critical local habitat or open space.

(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 5, Sec. 44. (SB 1) Effective April 28, 2017.)