Welcome to SGV Connect. In this week's episode, Kris Fortin interviews Paul Alva with the county's Department of Public Works about East L.A. Sustainable Median Stormwater Capture Project. After that, Damien Newton talks to Streetsblog USA Senior Editor Kea Wilson about the state of transit during the ongoing pandemic.
The East L.A. project will convert multiple medians into green multi-benefit sites that capture rainwater and other urban runoff. In several existing street median islands, the project will divert water into bioswales and drywells, allow water to soak into the ground - to recharge aquifers, improve water quality, and lessen flood risk. DPW expects the project to capture approximately 21 acre-feet of urban and stormwater runoff from a 3,000-acre tributary area of mostly residential and commercial properties.
The project will include benches, picnic tables, walking paths, exercise equipment, and quite a bit of vegetation, including more than 300 trees. DPW estimates the cost to be $36 million.
In the second interview, Wilson explains how national politics are delaying or even killing a second federal relief fund for transit projects and programs.
Wilson also discusses how agencies are responding to the crisis by focusing efforts on making service as usable as possible for essential workers and what transit will look like in our post-COVID future.
SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”
The recently installed 1.25-mile long bikeway spans Lincoln Park Avenue, Flora Avenue, and Sierra Street - it's arguably the first new bike facility of the Measure HLA era
Brightline West will be a 218-mile 186-mile-per-hour rail line from Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga - about 40 miles east of downtown L.A. - expected to open in 2028