ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A railroad crossing underpass project in Santa Ana was awarded $25 million in federal funds as part of $1.8 billion in grants from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program, the U.S. Department of Transportation Announced Wednesday.
The money will be earmarked for construction of an underpass at an existing rail crossing with the Southern California Regional Rail Authority Orange Line tracks at Santa Ana Boulevard, adjacent to the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center, according to the DOT.
According to the agency, the reconstructed roadway will be reduced from six lanes to four, but include on-street protected bike lanes, sidewalks and a pedestrian overcrossing that will parallel the rail line.
“Additionally, the project will include connection to the future Golden Loop trail system, with 17.5 miles of planned trail improvements for access to the wider Santa Ana trail and recreational park network,” according to the agency.
The project is aimed at eliminating vehicles idling while stuck waiting for trains to pass at the crossing.
“The Santa Ana Boulevard Grade Separation Project will literally save lives by making a busy railroad crossing safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians,” Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said in a statement. “In a busy, urban city like Santa Ana, we must do everything we can to ensure that our residents, families, and students can get around safely on our roadways and sidewalks.”
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, said, “We need to create good-paying jobs and keep our local economy growing while ensuring that traffic congestion does not hurt our quality of life. With this federal funding, that future will be made a reality.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $1.8 billion in grants Wednesday, funding 148 projects across the country. The new disbursements raised the overall total from the RAISE program to more than $7.2 billion, impacting more than 550 projects, according to DOT.
“After decades of underinvestment, the condition of America’s infrastructure is now finally getting better instead of worse — and today we proudly announce our support for 148 more projects in communities of every size across the country,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding projects across the country to make roads safer, make it easier for people to move around their community, make transportation infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather and improve supply chains to keep costs down for consumers.”
Two projects in San Diego County were awarded a total of more than $15 million. The SPRINTER corridor service improvement project between San Marcos and Escondido received $10,208,556, and the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal redevelopment plan phase II planning project was awarded $5 million.