California invested $13 billion this year to build safer, more climate-resilient roads and highways, faster
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Dec 12, 2024

California invested $13 billion this year to build safer, more climate-resilient roads and highways, faster

What you need to know: Since 2022, nearly $38 billion has been invested in transportation projects across California, creating an estimated 420,000 jobs.

SACRAMENTO – California invested nearly $13 billion in just the last year to enhance transportation safety, increase accessibility for people who walk and bike, support infrastructure in underserved communities across both rural and urban parts of the state, and create a more sustainable highway system that is resilient to climate change.

With the California Transportation Commission closing out 2024 with $830 million in allocations just this month, it has allocated nearly $38 billion since 2022 for transportation projects that have helped fuel the world's fifth largest economy and created approximately 420,000 jobs.

On top of this funding, just yesterday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $135 million to help purchase hundreds more clean trucks in California. The funding is critical to the state's efforts to transition to clean trucks – vital to cutting pollution and protecting the health of communities historically left behind.

The transportation projects receiving funding are a critical component of Governor Gavin Newsom's build more, faster agenda delivering infrastructure upgrades across the state. Find projects building your community at build.ca.gov.

From fixing bridges long in need of repairs and extending and improving rail lines to building more accessible sidewalks and adding new electric buses, California is upgrading our transportation system in ways not seen for generations. We're building more, faster, and we're creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for folks working in the very communities they grew up in.

Governor Gavin Newsom

A large portion of the funding was derived from the landmark federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), contributed more than $6.5 billion to the year-long effort, while SB 1 funded another $2.7 billion.

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The state has invested in an expansive and versatile portfolio of 885 projects during 2024 that reflect the demands of a diverse and ever-changing economy that ranks among the largest in the world.

"The future of California's transportation system relies on providing safer, more equitable and accessible travel options for all Californians and people who visit our majestic state from across the world," said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. "The significant funding levels allow Caltrans to forge ahead with its mission to connect communities and manage infrastructure assets that serve as the economic and cultural lifeblood of our neighborhoods for now and into the future."

All regions of California, from a wildlife crossing in the northernmost part of Siskiyou County to better pavement at the border with Mexico, received funding. Projects will be constructed on major interstates in metropolitan areas and small highways in the state's more rural enclaves. They range in scale from a $298,000 safety improvement project in Tahoe City to a $254.2 million effort to improve freight mobility along the Interstate 15 corridor through Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Among the improvements are hundreds of miles of new bike lanes, funding for cleaner-fuel technology across the transportation system, hydrogen fueling stations, improving numerous bridges, increasing rail opportunities and new systems to better connect California's vast animal habitats.

Below is a sample of approved projects that will improve lives for Californians, regardless of their travel mode:
  • A plan to fix and expand sidewalks, provide separate bike paths and upgrades to ADA curbs, lighting systems and traffic management elements in San Luis Obispo County. Similar efforts will be underway in the cities of Redding, Berkeley and Pismo Beach as well as in the Wilmington community near the Port of Los Angeles and in the City Heights section of San Diego.
  • New electric buses and chargers in Santa Barbara as well as the installation of four hydrogen fueling stations in Riverside County near the I-215/SR-60 interchange.
  • Replacing the Ackerman Creek Bridge in Mendocino County, repairing damaged bridges along Interstate 80 in Alameda County and restoring the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles.
  • An extension of the BART system into San Jose, improvements to the rail station in North Hollywood, and safety improvements to two commuter rail crossings in Montebello and four at-risk locations in Orange County and the North Coast Corridor in San Diego County.
  • Improved wildlife crossings near Tehachapi and stream restoration efforts in Humboldt County.

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