10/29/2015
 

LOS ANGELES – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that the Department of Transportation will provide $15 million for the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor Connector Project in South Los Angeles. The project is one of 39 federally-funded transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive a total of $500 million under the Department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) 2015 program. U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Victor Mendez traveled to Los Angeles for the local announcement.

The Department received 627 eligible applications from 50 states and several U.S. territories, including Tribal governments, requesting 20 times the $500 million available for the program, or $10.1 billion for needed transportation projects.

“Transportation is always about the future. If we're just fixing today's problems, we'll fall further and further behind. We already know that a growing population and increasing freight traffic will require our system to do more," said Secretary Foxx. “In this round of TIGER, we selected projects that focus on where the country’s transportation infrastructure needs to be in the future; ever safer, ever more innovative, and ever more targeted to open the floodgates of opportunity across America.”

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) will receive funding for an approximately 6.4-mile multi-use transportation corridor for bicyclists and pedestrians that will improve access to the Metro Blue Line, Silver Line and future Crenshaw/LAX Line. The project will connect multiple neighborhoods in historically disadvantaged communities in South Los Angeles, providing safe and attractive mobility options for residents and workers in the corridor.

“We are excited about and proud of what you are doing here in Los Angeles. Your project will not only improve the neighborhoods it runs through, it will make the residents safer and healthier,” said Deputy Secretary Mendez. “We believe that these are exactly the kinds of programs that TIGER exists to support.”

“We congratulate the citizens of South Los Angeles, who are the true winners in obtaining these highly competitive TIGER grant funds,” said Federal Transit Administration Senior Advisor Carolyn Flowers, who joined Deputy Secretary Mendez at an event to announce the grant. “This multi-use transportation corridor will provide safe and convenient access for thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists to connect to public transportation options to get to work, school, medical care, and other important destinations throughout Los Angeles County.”

This is the seventh TIGER round since 2009, bringing the total grant amount to $4.6 billion provided to 381 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 134 projects to support rural and tribal communities. Demand for the program has been overwhelming; to date, the Department of Transportation has received more than 6,700 applications requesting more than $134 billion for transportation projects across the country.

The GROW AMERICA Act, the Administration’s surface transportation legislative proposal, would keep TIGER roaring with $7.5 billion over six years for future TIGER grants.

Click here for additional information on individual TIGER grants.