After securing more than $38-million in grant funding from the State of California's active transportation program, the City of Los Angeles is set to move forward on new streetscape and safety project which will remake a key north-south thoroughfare through Downtown Los Angeles.

That money, coupled with more roughly $8.9 million in local matching funds, will go toward the implementation of the $47.5-million Skid Row Connectivity & Safety Project, targets the segment of San Pedro Street between Temple Street in the north and the I-10 Freeway to the south, as well as several intersecting corridors. Altogether, plans call for the construction of 2.4 miles of new bicycle infrastructure, as well as new open space within the Skid Row and Industrial District, complementing existing or under-construction east-west infrastructure along 5th, 6th, and 7th Streets.

“Central City East and Skid Row are often overlooked and I am glad to see that Council District 14 has put in the work that will benefit the entire community," said Estela Lopez, the executive director of Downtown LA Industrial District Business Improvement District in a statement.

Key elements of the project include curbside protected bike lanes along San Pedro Street, as well as buffered bike lanes along a stretch of 11th Street and two-way protected bike lanes along 16th Street. Additionally, plans call for the closure of a vehicular slip lane at the intersection of 8th and San Pedro Streets, creating space for a new landscaped plaza.

New public plaza planned at 8th and San Pedro StreetsCity of Los Angeles

The project - which also covers segments of 5th Street, 6th Street, 8th Street, and 9th Street - would also include include 500 new trees, new pedestrian lighting, curb extensions, enhanced crosswalks, pedestrian beacons, bike storage facilities, bike share stations, hydration stations, and e-bike charging stations.

The Bureau of Street Services, or StreetsLA, will manage implementation of the project, with a timeline to be announced in the coming months.

The announcement was made by the office of 14th District Councilmember Kevin de Leon, who was captured on a leaked recording along with two of his now former colleagues and a labor leader making racist remarks. While two of the participants in the conversation resigned, and a third has seen his term in office come to an end, De Leon has steadfastly refused to resign, despite widespread calls to do so.

Funding for the Skid Row Connectivity project was included in a $200-million award to the City of Los Angeles, which will also go toward the construction of a new segment of the L.A. River bike path and similar safety upgrades to streets in Wilmington and South Los Angeles.