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405 'Over the Hill' Car Pool Lane Runs into Funding Problems

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Photo by thelastminute via Flickr

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If only car pools lanes would be as easy as taking a bucket of paint and making some new lines. But adding 10 miles of car pool lane to the northbound 405 Freeway between the 10 and 101 freeways means widening it and $1 billion in funding. Homeowners in Sherman Oaks have already received notices that the state is taking their land, but the state is running into the economy.

So now the locals are stepping in, as the LA Times explains: "The state was planning to sell $662 million in bonds to help pay for its share of the project, but has not yet been able to. It's unclear when officials will be able to sell the bonds. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is stepping in, allocating local and federal funds it had earmarked for the widening to get work started on the first phase... The money will allow the project to run for 15 months, while officials seek further funding..."

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