Clean California Awards Nearly $115 Million

News Release

Date:      October 9, 2023

District: District7 (Los Angeles and Ventura counties)

Contact: AllisonQueen

Phone:    (213) 269-0746

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Clean California Awards Nearly $115 Million to Transform Neighborhoods in Underserved Communities and Beautify Transit Stations

 

Funds Will Support 60 Projects Statewide

 

SACRAMENTO — Caltrans today awarded nearly $115 million in Clean California grants to cities and local agencies. The grants are a key part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, which is a sweeping $1.2 billion, multiyear commitment led by Caltrans to clean up trash, create thousands of jobs and help communities beautify their public spaces.

 

With today’s announcement, Clean California grants have funded nearly 300 projects statewide to revitalize and beautify underserved communities, some of which are already complete and now sources of community pride. The projects will improve public spaces, tribal lands, parks, neighborhoods, transit centers, walking paths, streets, roadsides, recreation fields, community gathering spots, and places of cultural importance or historical interest in underserved communities.

 

The 42 Clean California local grants announced today are in addition to the nearly $300 million in grants Governor Newsom announced in March 2022 to more than 100 local Clean California projects statewide. Six projects in District 7, stretching from Oxnard to Inglewood, were recipients of a Clean California local grant for a combined total of over $17 million.

 

Key projects include:

 

• The Campus Park Enhancement Project by the city of Oxnard in Caltrans District 7 will transform a 30-acre dirt lot at the abandoned Oxnard High School into a beautified community space with walking pathways, shade structures, safety lighting, educational signage, trash cans, a restroom and landscaping. The project will be on a highly visible site on a busy corridor within a half mile of downtown Oxnard. The grant amount request is approximately $3.5 million.

 

• The Garfield Avenue Median Beautification and Citywide Cleanup Project in the city of Commerce will upgrade the median islands along a major north-south corridor on Garfield Avenue in the City. The proposed improvements include planting drought-tolerant plants and shade trees, installing high efficiency irrigation systems, installing natural inorganic materials, and installing infiltration pits to capture stormwater. The project will include community cleanup activities at various sites citywide where illegal dumping occurs, and litter collects. The grant amount request is approximately $2.3 million.

 

• The city of Downey Alley Beautification Project proposes to revitalize the alley network throughout various locations of the city identified as threeproject sites. The project intends to promote active transportation methods for community members through low-stress pathways for pedestrian travel, clean the thoroughfares and improve the City's overall alley pavement network within the most disadvantaged locations within the community. The grant amount request is approximately $2.5 million.

 

• The Inglewood Neighborhood Beautification Projectencompasses more than a quarter square-mile underserved community within the city of Inglewood to enhance the pedestrian experience and encourage more walking for residents of all ages as well as reducing the urban heat island affect. The project will plant over 300 shade trees, provide seating and trash receptacles at bus stops, trash receptacles near Oak Elementary School and Inglewood High School, and clean up accumulated litter and overgrown vegetation on or near the sidewalks, parkways, and in existing tree wells. The grant amount request is $1.7 million.

 

• The city of South El Monte, Merced Avenue Greenway Project addresses the Northern Corridor Project City streets. The city of South El Monte, a highly urbanized and underserved community in the San Gabriel Valley, is constructing its first green street. Merced Avenue comprises both industrial and residential zones and offers a unique opportunity to create a climate-resilient landscape offering pedestrian and bike connections, reducing stormwater pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and helping mitigate the urban heat island UHI effect. The grant amount request is $3.1 million.

 

• The Jordan Downs Sustainable and Equitable Communities Initiative Project is HACLA’s (Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles) is dedicated to fostering a more sustainable and equitable community. This project will develop diverse outdoor recreation spaces and amenities at Children's Park, collaborate with Angel City Soils to implement climate mitigation strategies focusing on a vermicomposting project, provide job training and employment opportunities to residents for green industries, and prioritize community engagement through regular meeting workshops, and surveys to ensure that the project aligns with the community's needs and aspirations. The grant amount request is $3.9 million.

 

Following the positive community response to this first round of grants, Governor Newsom and the state legislature approved $100 million last year for a second round of local grant projects. The local grants awarded today range from $88,000 to $5 million, and all benefit underserved communities. In addition, today’s funding announcement includes $14.5 million to support 18 projects to clean up stations and other areas around public transit systems.

 

Since launching Clean California in July 2021, Caltrans and local partners have removed an estimated 1.86 million cubic yards of litter from state highways – a trash pile that would be more than 370 times taller than Mount Whitney (14,505 feet, the state’s highest peak). The program has created more than 4,000 jobs that have helped Californians overcome barriers to employment, including 357 people experiencing homelessness, and drawn more than 10,000 volunteers to events ranging from community cleanups to large debris collections for appliances, tires, and mattresses.

 

As the Clean California effort moves forward, Caltrans and local communities will continue to draw attention to the negative impact litter has on natural resources, waterways, public safety, and public health to create a cultural shift of shared responsibility for clean and vibrant public spaces.

 

Caltrans is also developing a program in which communities throughout the state can earn a special Clean California Community designation by meeting criteria centered around preventing and cleaning up litter, promoting recycling and greening or beautifying neighborhoods. To find out how to volunteer with Clean California, please visit Clean California.

 

 

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         Allison Queen