Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Wednesday, Oct. 5, intended to make it easier to fund a series of highway projects statewide.

Sponsored by Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, the action preserves $822 million in funding for about 30 projects, including improvements to Interstate 405 in Los Angeles.

“Local transportation agencies would not have been able to get their projects off the ground without this money,” Oropeza said in a written statement. “We thought it was unfair to allow this money to expire, especially in light of how gas tax funds have been raided (for other uses) in recent years.”

Among the projects that would move forward:

• The addition of a northbound carpool lane to I-405 over Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles;
• Completion of a fourth tunnel and additional lanes to the Caldecott Tunnel in Alameda County; and
• A new six-lane freeway on Route 905 on Otay Mesa in San Diego County.