L.A. Awards Great Streets And Vision Zero Grants

Last Friday, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the latest round of Great Streets Challenge grants winners. Seven selected projects will receive a total of $2 million to remake selected Los Angeles corridors and intersections. The program emphasizes community outreach, with nonprofit community groups awarded funding and city technical expertise.

The grants recently expanded their scope, now funding streets outside of the original 15 corridors. Six of the seven project areas are located outside the original Great Streets Initiative corridors. Four projects are temporary pop-up programming; three are permanent street improvements.

From the city press release, the seven recipients projects are:

1. Grant Housing & Economic Development Corporation and Watts Re:Imagined - Wilmington Avenue between 103rd Street and Imperial Highway, in Watts.Project goal: To lead a radical and positive transformation in Watts aligned with citywide plans for sustainability, public health and green space, infrastructure investment, transit oriented development (especially affordable housing), and support for private investment focused on the under-served community.
2. Pacoima Beautiful - Parthenia Boulevard. and Van Nuys Boulevard, in Panorama City.Project goal: To transform a median at the intersection of Van Nuys and Parthenia into a new public space. This project will show how our streets can be reimagined to create safer and more socially and economically vibrant communities.
3. Pico Great Street Collaborative - Pico Blvd between Fairfax Avenue and Cochran Avenue, in Mid-City.Project goal: To make the Pico Blvd Great Street a walkable and bikeable destination for the neighborhood and beyond, with vibrant public gathering spaces and thriving local businesses.
4. Proyecto Pastoral - First Street between Mission Road and Gless Street and Fourth Street between Gless Street and Clarence Street, in Aliso Village/Boyle Heights.Project goal: To improve safety conditions in a high traffic area by improving street crossings and signage and by engaging residents to build a strong culture around safety.
5. South Robertson Community Foundation - Robertson Boulevard between Cadillac Avenue and Kincardine Avenue, adjacent to Culver City.Project goal: To improve our local business district by creating an improved balance between residents and businesses, while enhancing the environment in which the businesses can operate. This will be achieved through a commitment to complete streets solutions, pedestrian first policies, sustainable transportation options, and a multi-modal traffic grid.
6. Thai Community Development Center - Hollywood Boulevard between Western Avenue and Harvard Boulevard in Thai Town/East Hollywood.Project goal: To facilitate a safe, clean, highly walkable cultural destination for the Thai Town neighborhood by activating a community space, building on placemaking and economic development activities.
7. West Angeles Community Development Corporation - Crenshaw Boulevard between W. 52nd Street and W. 63rd Street, in South L.A.Project goal: To create a safe, highly livable, and engaging Crenshaw Corridor, accessible to seniors, youth, families, residents, visitors, and persons of all abilities. It can become a corridor that connects the greater Park Mesa Heights/Hyde Park Neighborhood to existing amenities, public transportation, and local businesses.

Along similar city-community transportation grant lines, in mid-January, the L.A. City Department of Transportation (LADOT) announced winners of its Vision Zero community partnership grants. There are few details available regarding these projects. They "develop an outreach program" tailored to specific neighborhoods. Teams are still in the scoping phase, with a further announcement expected in late March when the implementation phase begins. The projects/programs end this September.

1. Multicultural Communities for Mobility, with L.A. County Bicycle Coalition and L.A. Commons - Hoover Street from Vernon Avenue to Manchester Avenue
2. Multicultural Communities for Mobility, with L.A. County Bicycle Coalition and L.A. Commons - Crenshaw Boulevard from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Vernon Avenue
3. Cornerstone Theater Company, with Power to Pedal and Dignity Health - Vernon Avenue from Western Avenue to Central Avenue
4. Los Angeles Walks, with Gabba Gallery, Pilipino Workers Center, and Public Matters - Temple Street from Beverly Boulevard to Beaudry Avenue
5. Ave 50 Studio, with L.A. Neighborhood Initiative - N. Figueroa Street from Avenue 43 to York Boulevard
6. Central City Neighborhood Partners - 6th Street, Alvarado Street, and 7th Street
7. C.I.C.L.E., with Blacklist and Alan Nakagawa - Pico Boulevard from Western Avenue to Union Avenue
8. Pacoima Beatiful, with Leyna, Kaiser, and Cottonwood - Roscoe Boulevard from Van Nuys Boulevard to Woodman Avenue
9. LA-Más, with Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action - Adams Boulevard from Hauser Boulevard to Crenshaw Boulevard