The nearly five-hour traffic jam on I-5 this morning added fuel to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plea Thursday for more transportation funds. He came to San Diego to stump for a November ballot measure that would ensure taxes consumers pay at the pump would go towards improving freeways and roads. KPBS reporter Beth Ford Roth has the story.
Proposition 42 was approved four years ago and was supposed to guarantee gas taxes went to transportation projects. But Schwarzenegger says a loophole allowed many of those tax dollars to be diverted to the general fund. That's why he's backing a constitutional amendment by Democratic Senator Tom Torlakson to close the loophole.
Schwarzenegger: It will make sure that the gas tax money will only be used for transportation, which means $1.4 billion will go to transportation, traffic congestion relief, building highways and freeways, safety improvements, and better local streets and roads.
Local transportation officials say that money would be used for Interstate-5 improvements from the merge up through Oceanside, and also to widen I-15. Beth Ford Roth, KPBS News.
