Road projects in Sonoma County received $4.5 million Oct. 8, when the California Transportation Commission allocated $359 million in transportation funding to projects throughout the state.

Nearly $2 million will be used by Caltrans to reconstruct the slope and roadway on a portion of Highway 1 north of Fort Ross State Historic Park. A retaining wall also will be built to prevent further downhill slippage and failure of the roadway. Storm damage caused Hwy. 1 to close north of Jenner for more than two weeks last December, during the height of the holiday tourist season.

Another $2.5 million was allocated to widen College Avenue between Cleveland and Morgan, adding Class 2 bike lanes and relieving congestion caused by on- and off-ramps leading to the Highway 101 overpass. The project was originally intended to be part of the 2005 highway widening effort, which added high-occupancy vehicle lanes to the freeway between Highway 12 and Steele Lane.

Caltrans now has the money to bid the project this winter and do the construction in 2014.

Read Press Democrat reporter Kevin McCallum’s story about the project here.