DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg exchanges a hug with U.S. Rep. Norma Torres as U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar looks on | twitter.com/NormaJTorres/
A city nestled against California's San Bernardino Mountains is getting approximately $15 million in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant funding for various infrastructure improvements, including adding bike trails and crosswalks, the DOT announced last week.
DOT Sec. Pete Buttigieg visited Fontana, Calif., Sept. 8, to formally announce that the city would receive the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant. U.S. House representatives Norma Torres and Pete Aguilar, both Democrats, also attended the event.
Creating more than seven miles of bike paths will be paid for by a RAISE grant to Fontana, Calif.
| Richard Masoner/Wikipedia Commons
"Today we're in the City of Fontana to celebrate a $15 million RAISE grant that will create 7.5 miles of bike lanes, add additional crosswalks, helping students to go to and from school safely and helping workers access thousands of jobs here in the Inland Empire," Buttigieg said in a Facebook post the same day.
Torres thanked Buttigieg for coming to Fontana to formally announce funding assistance for the city's Building A Better Connected Inland Empire project.
"I am proud to have secured this funding with @RepPeteAguilar, and will continue to work to meet the needs of the Inland Empire," Torres said.
DOT announced last month that more than $2.2 billion in RAISE program funds will be spent to help urban and rural communities pay for projects modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, and intermodal transportation. This year's RAISE allocations include money from last year's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which provided an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the program.
Torres and Aguilar issued a joint statement last month announcing the grant award for Fontana.
Aguilar said she was "proud" for her part in helping to pass the BIL "because now our communities are witnessing the positive impacts these investments will have on our everyday lives."
"With this RAISE grant provided by the Department of Transportation, we will make our streets and bike lanes safer, better connect our residents to transportation services, and strengthen our local and regional infrastructure for generations to come – all while integrating equity and accessibility," she said in the announcement. "Without a doubt, this $15 million grant will be transformative to Fontana and the Inland Empire and support every single resident living in the region."
Fontana is a city of almost 209,000, according to the U.S. Census in 2020.
"This is a historic day for the City of Fontana," Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren said in the statement. "The 'Building A Better Connected Inland Empire' project will transform Fontana's transportation corridors and create safe pathways for students and bicyclists. We are thankful to Congresswoman Torres and Congressman Aguilar for their work to secure RAISE Grant funding for Fontana,"
Fontana will spend its RAISE portion to major complete streets improvements, including an integrated traffic system, medians with protected left turns, a roundabout, bus turnouts, streetlights and raised medians, according to RAISE 2022 Fact Sheets issued by DOT. Fontana also will built more than 7.5 miles of bike lanes, half a mile of multi-use trail, crosswalks, a bridge, and countdown signal heads.
A "particular focus" in Fontana includes creation of "a safe way for hundreds of students to walk or bike to an existing high school and two planned schools," the fact sheet reports. Benefits include improved safety, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness, according to the fact sheet.
"These changes will result in access to more transportation options that don’t require a vehicle and better access to approximately 7,500 job opportunities," the fact sheet states.
