The California Department of Transportation recently awarded $23.6 million in planning grants to 58 local projects statewide – projects focused on improving infrastructure resiliency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving bicycle and pedestrian safety, and increasing natural disaster preparedness throughout California.
[Above photo by Caltrans]
The agency said that funding is split between two types of grants. First, $20.4 million worth of Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grants will help support 49 local and regional projects sponsored by transit agencies and tribes for transportation and land use planning, as well as planning for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Second, $3.2 million worth of federally funded Strategic Partnerships Grants will support nine projects focused on planning for long-term multimodal transportation needs. That includes creating a statewide transportation resource library as well as railroad corridor crossing safety projects, multimodal circulation and intersection improvements, transit connectivity and service reliability initiatives, a comprehensive transit fare analysis study, plus short- and long-range Bus Rapid Transit planning needs.
Nearly $14 million of that funding comes from Senate Bill (SB) 1, also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, Caltrans said. The remaining funds are a combination of the State Highway Account, the Federal Highway Administration’s State Planning and Research program and the Federal Transit Administration’s Section 5304 grant program, the agency noted.
“These planning grants will support local leaders and residents in designing transportation solutions that improve quality of life and help make safer connections to community assets, schools and workplaces,” said Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, in a statement.
“By planning for climate-resilient infrastructure, improving access to walking and biking options and supporting under-resourced areas, these projects will help protect people, expand opportunity and build a transportation system that serves everyone,” added Dina El-Tawansy, director of Caltrans.
Caltrans noted that it awards transportation planning grants each year through a competitive process to encourage local and regional projects. Applications are evaluated on how projects advance state transportation and climate goals by identifying and addressing statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the highway system, the agency said.
Since this program began during California’s 2015-2016 fiscal year, more than 800 planning grants have been awarded totaling $316 million, Caltrans said – with more than 73 percent of those projects now fully completed.
