New Federal Transportation Acts to Provide Billions for SoCal Infrastructure
A new transit bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last week could bring as much as $3B to LA County’s Metro to fund highway improvements over the next five years.
This funding could be used to widen the 5 freeway west of the 605 freeway and for the 710 south project and improvements to the 60 freeway from LA to the Inland Empire, as well as the two-mile convergence of the 57 and 60 freeways in Diamond Bar.
This bill also includes $10.8B for freight movement infrastructure from the ports of LA and Long Beach. The Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority, which builds freeway underpasses for vehicles under railroad tracks, may also benefit from this bill. Congress also reauthorized the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which could provide up to $3B annually in TIFIA low-interest loans for costly Metro projects, according to the LA Daily News.
Metro will also get funding for new rail projects from the $350B Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act to extend the Purple Line to West LA and fund the 1.9-mile regional connector in Downtown LA, which will connect the Gold and Red Lines. The FAST Act also increases funding for rail and bus transit by 20%, providing $13B over five years, and $26B to fix damaged roads and crumbling bridges. [LADN]
