Community to get new roadways with gasoline tax dollars

A small community gets new roadways, but county officials are concerned they may not be able to help other communities in the same way.

Imperial County officials said the community of Heber deserves better roads. They’re investing 2 million dollars from Senate Bill 1 (SB1) into a project that’s already up for bids to potential contractors. The new pavement will cover nearly four miles of Heber roadways. A special census was completed recently to prove to the state the need for those improvements.

Officials said they plan to finish the work by early next year. They said this is gasoline tax dollars at work. However, they warned that if SB1 is repealed in the November elections, roadworks like the one in Heber will no longer get funding from that source.

I.C. Public Works Director John Gay said, “They haven’t been improved over a period of time. If we don’t invest dollars now, we’ll have to invest so many more dollars in the future.”

Esperanza Colio, Deputy County Executive Officer, said they did a special census recently for the sole purpose of highlighting local need of new roadways.

“You see this community and you see the need in the community. You see that they have no pavement or no sidewalks and the conditions of their houses are poor,” Colio said.

The town of Heber is located about 6 miles south of the City of El Centro.