12/14/2005  

Highway 78 CID adopts $11.8 million budget for ‘06
Sum includes appropriation for new traffic reduction projects

The Highway 78 CID Board of Directors approved an $11.8 million budget for 2006 at their monthly board meeting on Wednesday that provides funding for several work projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion and improving safety along the corridor.

“This budget marks the transition from our research phase to our implementation plans,” Executive Director Brett Harrell says of the approval. “These projects will be the first of many that will make Highway 78 a more inviting place for businesses and residents alike.”

Key appropriations for 2006 include funding for:

• Paxton Lane Service Road connection: $750,000 project will provide a parallel service road, north of Highway 78 between Lake Lucerne Road and Jessica Daron Court. Part of the Highway 78 CID’s objective to increase pedestrian use of the corridor, the Paxton Lane project includes sidewalks, crossings, refuge islands, and landscaped buffers.
• Henry Clower Boulevard deceleration lane: $200,000 project will serve as a safety improvement for making right-turn movements while traveling eastbound along Highway 78. It will also eliminate the conflict caused drivers traveling at different speeds – thereby further improving mobility and enhancing safety.

Funding will come from a variety of federal, state and local sources – money obtained by the Highway 78 CID. At the federal level alone, the 78 CID has already obtained more than $10.1 million. For CID property owners who have invested $1.5 million in additional property taxes over the past two years, this funding represents a better than 6 to 1 return on their investment.

The 2006 budget also provides for a variety of other improvements ranging from landscape enhancements, upgraded signalized intersections, and community banners. The board also approved a five-year work program that identifies over 30 additional projects for which the 78 CID intends to seek future funding.

“These projects and all the ones that will follow are great for business,” says Gary Custar, owner of Presentation Solutions. “When the CID completes all of these projects, I believe business owners are going to look back and be proud they had the foresight to form the CID, change the landscape of Highway 78 and improve the quality of life in our community.”

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