A nearly $10 million federal grant will help construct a new pedestrian and bicycle crossing over the Pasadena (710) Freeway, officials announced Friday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and other local leaders at Humphreys Avenue Elementary School to celebrate the funding, which they say will “reconnect this section of East Los Angeles that was divided by the construction of I-170.”
The funding comes from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure deal, a $110 billion investment for roads, bridges and major projects over five years.
“The 710 was an investment in supply chains and vehicle travel like so many of the freeway and highways of that era,” Buttigieg said during a news conference Friday morning. “Low-income communities were split in half and cut out of the benefits because they lacked the political power to reshape or resist those plans.”
Buttigieg added that the project will make it easier for people to go about their days by creating an accessible overpass for pedestrians and bicyclists to get to one side of the neighborhood to another.
“It’ll make it safer for kids to get to school in the morning. That’s something, again, that touches me in a whole new way ever since becoming a parent,” Buttigieg said.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins explained that for her, the project was about modal equity.
“About 19% of East L.A. is covered by freeways. Compare that just to 4% for the city of Los Angeles,” Wiggins said. “That means East L.A. pedestrians and cyclists must contend with crossing busy bridges, on- and off-ramps, when they walk or bike to school, church, the grocery store or local businesses.”
The cabinet secretary was visiting the Los Angeles region for a two-day visit, announcing millions of dollars for projects across Southern California.
On Thursday, Buttigieg joined Port of Long Beach officials for the ground breaking on the $1.5 billion Port B On-Dock Rail Yard expansion project to fortify the U.S. supply chain. He also joined Supervisor Janice Hahn and Metro officials to celebrate nearly $80 million for electric buses and upgrades to a bus yard located in West Hollywood.