Caltrans will fund construction of a new bike path from Piru to Rancho Camulos, the agency announced Wednesday.

The $479,000 in funding is included in a $347 million authorization by the California Transportation Commission for 47 projects primarily in Southern California that will “bolster the state’s economy and provide congestion relief for motorists statewide,” the agency said.

Ventura County’s 2008 Piru Area Plan calls for bike and pedestrian paths to “promote connectivity … to adjacent neighborhoods, open space and other land uses.”

In that spirit, the Caltrans funding will pay for a 1.2 mile “commuter bicycle path” starting 1,000 feet east of Highway 126 at Center Street, crossing the highway to a point three-quarters of a mile west of the historic Rancho Camulos.

“We’re putting people back to work building better roads, bridges, rail and transit for California,” acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a statement.

Some of the biggest-ticket items in the current authorization are $458,000 in improvements to ramps in various locations throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties; $300,000 for concrete barriers on the shoulders of State Route 90 between Centinela Avenue and the 405 freeway; and $2 million to repair eroded slopes caused by heavy rainfall on State Route 91 in Compton and Long Beach.

Proposition 1B, the 2006 state transportation bond, is providing $281 million of the money. The remaining $66 million comes from assorted state and federal transportation accounts, the agency said.