The U.S. House of Representatives approved $700,000 for the Rice Avenue Interchange transportation project in Ventura County as part of the next fiscal year’s transportation, and housing and urban development appropriations bill passed July 23.

The funding request was made by the city of Oxnard, the Ventura County Transportation Commission and the Oxnard Harbor District. It’s part of the $80 million project, which includes a new overcrossing structure of eight lanes, new on-ramps and off-ramps on the freeway, irrigated landscaping and new street lighting. The House also passed $700,000 for health-care programs in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as part of a separate appropriations bill. Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria asked for $500,000 to develop a neonatal intensive care unit. The Ventura County Health Care Agency asked for $200,000 for its One-Stop Health Care Enrollment Center, which streamlines enrollment and improves retention in Medicaid, SCHIP and other available health insurance programs.

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