As anyone who drove on Interstate 80 in Solana County from 4pm to 5pm can attest, traffic can move quite slowly during the ironically named “rush hour”.

This is what the California Department of Transportation hopes to address through additional speed lanes along the highway from Fairfield to Wacoville to keep traffic moving.

The bookmarking ceremony took place on Monday in the historic Pena Adobe Park, where the sounds of moving traffic are quite common.

The project aims to add a pair of 18-mile speed lanes, both east and west, stretching from Red Top Road in Fairfield to Leisure Town Road in Vacaville. This includes eight miles of existing lanes for traffic between Red Top and Airbase Parkway, which will be converted to speed lanes.

The total cost of the project is $ 243 million, including $ 63.47 million from federal funds, $ 37 million from local and $ 19.16 million from the regional improvement program.

Pedro Quintana, a Caltrans public information officer in District 4, which includes Solana, said most of the funds – $ 123.4 million – would come from Senate Bill 1, a $ 54 million bill was signed for roads, highways and bridges. throughout the state.

“The whole point of this project is to ease the congestion we are seeing in Solana County,” he said. “In Solana County there is growth in the area, but we noticed when 5 hours, 4 hours (traffic) starts to increase. Much of this movement is starting to slow down from 55 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour. ”

In addition to facilitating commuter traffic, Quintana said the project will allow ambulances to reach their destination more quickly during emergencies.

Robert McConnell, chairman of the Solana Transport Department and mayor of Vallejo, said funding and implementing the project was difficult, but public support allowed it to happen.

“This would have been impossible without our many, many partner agencies and the support of the private sector and many community organizations in and around our favorite district of Solana,” he said.

Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said it was one of many Caltrans projects in the county, including the interchange at I-80/680 and Highway 12, the Six Bridges project in Vallejo and the reconstruction of I-80 to the west. cargo scales near Fairfield.

“Together, these projects will greatly improve the ability of businesses to transport their goods from the ports of Auckland, Sacramento and the rest of Northern California and across the western states,” he said.

Dodd stressed the importance of the I-80 as a transport corridor, stressing that it was designated by the Metropolitan Transport Commission as a “rescue route” that transports $ 244 billion worth of goods each year.

“By increasing the efficiency of goods movement across the corridor, the economic benefit of this is $ 9.42 million for Solana County and $ 4.47 million for the rest of California,” he said.

Assembly member Lori Wilson, of D-Suisun City, said the project would ease congestion for everyone, especially for students and key workers. She added that this would create faster routes for local and regional transit systems, which in turn would reduce the number of vehicles on the highway.

She also said electric vehicles would be eligible to use the lanes because her office issued an STA request for $ 1 million to provide charging infrastructure in the county.

“We can improve air quality and encourage more people to take advantage of the outdoor opportunities we have,” she said.

Acting Caltrans director Steve Keck said Solana’s population is estimated to grow by 25% by 2040, and the number of vehicles on the I-80 could increase by 35%. The new lanes, he said, will allow cars with three or more passengers, as well as minibuses and buses to move freely. Other motorists will have to pay a toll that is commensurate with the amount of traffic on the speed lanes.

“This will allow us to transport more people through this corridor with fewer vehicles,” he said.

Fairfield Mayor Harry Price said the lanes would matter to those traveling to Travis Air Force Base and back.

“This facility will now make work easier for those 26,000 people working in Travis,” he said. “Some of them are in active service, others are reservists and many civilians.”

Vacaville Mayor Ron Roulette, also president of Carpenters Local 180 of the Northern California Regional Carpenters Council, focused on jobs that will bring the Caltrans project and other projects.

“This is an estimated construction cost of $ 740 million,” he said. “That means 5,700 jobs, $ 35 million in state and local tax revenues and $ 1 billion in economic impacts on the local and state economy. If we release these lanes, it saves everyone’s time, and if you save time, you increase the number of jobs. “

The lanes are scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2025.