After months of haggling and debate, President Joe Biden signed a $1.2-trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law earlier this week, creating billions in new funding that California will spend in areas ranging from broadband access to public transit. In a Twitter thread yesterday, Mayor Eric Garcetti broke down what the landmark legislation could mean for the City of Los Angeles.
"The infrastructure deal means funding for megaprojects like [Metro's] Sepulveda Transit Corridor, which will revolutionize the way Angelenos get around," said Garcetti.
Besides proposed rail lines with eyepopping price tags (which Los Angeles County has no shortage of), the infrastructure package includes funding for new projects large and small. They include:
- new bus lanes and NextGen Bus Plan projects;
- full electrification of Metro's bus fleet by 2030;
- complete street makeovers;
- Metrolink SCORE projects such as Link Union Station;
- the L.A. River restoration;
- the ongoing LAX modernization;
- goods movement programs at the Port of Los Angeles;
- more electric vehicle charging infrastructure;
- bridge and road repairs;
- cool pavement and street tree expansion;
- improved broadband access; and
- a transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.
The new funding could also provide a windfall for projects located outside of the region with impacts on Southern California as a whole, such as a pricey plan to relocate train tracks located on crumbling coastal bluffs near San Diego - something which could have the dual benefit of speeding travel times on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner.
