Press Releases

LOS ANGELES, CA – Today U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) announced over $151 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for four projects in California’s 34^th District to improve roads and highways, build a critical pedestrian and bicycle crossing connecting communities in East LA, make public transportation more efficient, and expand and improve parks and green spaces. This funding comes from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program to rejoin neighborhoods unfairly torn apart by highways, train tracks and other infrastructure projects.

“I’m proud to announce these four federal grants that will make our community a better and safer place to live, work and commute. When I helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, I knew the promise to rejoin communities that were ripped apart by highways and trains would be transformational for Los Angeles. These grants, which are the result of that law and the Inflation Reduction Act, will be used to further environmental justice, reconnect our communities and transform highways that once divided us into green spaces that will bring us together,” said Gomez.

The four grants are a direct result of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which Gomez helped pass into law in 2021 and 2022.

The Los Angeles projects receiving over $151 million in federal dollars include:

$9,961,500 for I-710 Humphreys Avenue Crossing: A Pedestrian and Bicycle Crossing to Bridge the 710 Divide in East Los Angeles – from the FY23 Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Grant

The project is a partnership between LA Metro, Caltrans and LA County Public Works and consists of the construction of a dedicated pedestrian and bicycle overcrossing adjacent to the existing Humphreys Avenue bridge over I-710 in the historically disadvantaged community of East Los Angeles, California. It also includes complementary pedestrian safety and accessibility improvements such as upgraded crosswalks, ADA-compliant curb ramps, and improved sidewalks.

$139,000,000 for Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy, A Multimodal Approach for Los Angeles County – from the FY23 Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant

This project will reconnect communities across highway and arterial barriers by creating multimodal investments: bus speed and reliability improvements, first/last mile strategies and projects, mobility hubs, and non-capital mobility solutions. These investments will improve connectivity in LA County, providing direct benefit to one million disadvantaged Angelenos.

$800,000 for Reconnecting East Los Angeles: 60 Green Bridge Project for Belvedere Park – from the FY23 Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Grant

Los Angeles County is exploring the possibility of creating a freeway cap and green bridge to reconnect Belvedere Park. The park expansion would include programmed recreation space, limited parking, active recreation, a playground, an art element, an information kiosk, and a north-south paseo that would include wide sidewalk areas and bicycle lanes. The proposed project site in East Los Angeles would primarily encompass the air space above the State Route (SR) 60 Pomona Freeway between Kern Avenue and Vancouver Avenue.

$2,000,000 for Reconnecting MacArthur Park – from the FY23 Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Grant

The targeted goal of the proposal is to permanently close Wilshire Blvd. to vehicular traffic from Alvarado St. to Carondelet St. to cede 1.7 acres of park land back to the local community, remove a high injury arterial adjacent to a high concentration of elementary schools and create new open space in the most park poor and disadvantaged areas of the city and US. Doing so would uniquely enhance the transit, bike and pedestrian connectivity for community members in the surrounding area to safely access schools, jobs, amenities and resources, create opportunities to improve their physical and mental health and would enhance the ability for users to visit the Westlake and MacArthur Park community from across the region.

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