Oxnard will get the final $30 million needed for a freeway interchange at Rice Avenue and Highway 101 as part of a sweeping $3 billion trade movement spending plan approved Thursday by the California Transportation Commission in Sacramento.

The improvements will allow the city to reconfigure a more direct route to the Port of Hueneme and the Pacific Coast Highway, bypassing the current route along Oxnard Boulevard through the city's congested downtown.

Local officials have been lobbying for more than a decade to get the money for the estimated $89 million project.

Oxnard, with help from the Oxnard Harbor District, has already set aside much of the money, but the price of the project has steadily gone up since it was first envisioned in the early 1990s.

Local officials will have to come up with an additional $12 million over the next few months to cover that difference, said Darren Kettle, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

"That's relatively small compared to the total cost," said Kettle, who was in the state capital for Thursday's meeting.

The city also still needs a final environmental approval for the work, but the project is essentially ready to go, he said.

State officials believe the work will go out for bid by sometime in October, with work beginning soon thereafter.

The $3 billion will pay for work on 79 projects across the state to improve the movement of freight, ease congestions and improve air quality in California.

The money for the work comes from Proposition 1B, the $20 billion state bond approved by voters two years ago.

State officials said the spending plan is an unprecedented move.

"It is important that we continue investing in the state's infrastructure in a way that improves the overall quality of life for all Californians," said Dale Bonner, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. "The CTC has approved a balanced package of projects, which is highly consistent with Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger's vision as set forth in the Administration's Goods Movement Action Plan."

The list of projects selected was agreed upon after extensive regional negotiations. Local officials were pleased with the state commission's decision.

"This certainly is the greatest investment made by the commission for freight movement," said the VCTC's Kettle.

Also on the list of approved spending was a half-million dollars set aside for the purchase of land along the Santa Clara River by the Nature Conservancy.