California awards $448 million in bonds to L.A. County transportation Projects

Written by jrood

Eight key transportation projects in Los Angeles County were awarded a total of $448 million in state bond money on Oct. 25 by the California Transportation Commission at its meeting in Sacramento, Calif. The Alameda Corridor East project received $336.6 million to help eliminate street crossings of the busy Union Pacific tracks in San Gabriel, Calif. The overall project aims to improve safety and reduce the number of street crossings along 70 miles of railroad tracks in the San Gabriel Valley. The second phase of the Expo Line light-rail project, which will run for 6.7 miles between Culver City, Los Angeles and Santa Monica, received $35.3 million. When completed in 2015, the full Expo Line between downtown Los Angeles and downtown Santa Monica is expected to be one of the busiest light rail lines in the United States. "We're expanding our transit system, increasing the number of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, optimizing traffic flow in our streets and we're helping speed the flow of freight through our region," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also the chair of LACMTA's Board of Directors. "These projects will help bolster our local economy, create jobs and help reduce traffic congestion in Los Angeles County." The money comes from Prop 1B bonds approved by California voters in 2006 to help pay for transportation needs throughout the state. The California Transportation Commission is in charge of allocating most of the $19.925 billion in bond money based on the merit and need of the projects.

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