Antioch is on track to receive more than $13 million in federal grants for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements along the L Street corridor.
The project, according to Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, is “one of the most important infrastructure projects” in an older part of the city that hasn’t seen such improvements in years.
“L Street is one of the main entrances to the city of Antioch’s downtown, to the marina,” he said. “This is a part of town that has seen decades of disinvestment, and here for the first time in a very, very long time, we’re making this type of investment. This is a big deal.”
The city first applied for the funding in August of 2022 and was awarded the monies the following spring. But the award required that the city commit matching funds – $4,952,000 – to receive them, which the council agreed to last week.
Acting Public Works Director Scott Buenting said the city’s portion would come from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) funds, money that is collected from gasoline taxes. That, plus the Safe Streets and Roads grant, will pay for the $13,008,000 project, he said.
To do this, the city will have to reallocate money currently assigned to the capital improvement pavement and resurfacing projects, meaning they could be delayed, according to the staff report.
As part of the deal, the council agreed on a 3-to-0 vote, with Hernandez-Thorpe and Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker absent, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to complete the L Street Pathway to Transit bicycle and pedestrian improvement project.
According to the CCTA’s program guidelines, the project will let the city design and build a suite of bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements based on safer streets initiatives and vision-zero-emission policies.
To improve equity and enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety throughout the city, 76% of the planned improvements must be in “equity priority communities” and underserved neighborhoods like Antioch’s L Street corridor between Ninth Street and Sycamore Drive.
The project aims to improve the safety of the L Street corridor for pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles, and provide additional ways to travel downtown. Proposed improvements will include sidewalk repairs, curb ramp reconstructions, pavement resurfacing, roadway restriping to include a continuous buffered bike lane in both directions of travel, green bike lane striping and high-visibility crosswalks, according to Buenting.
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“We’ll actually have a four-lane road versus a two-lane road (on L Street) near Antioch High School and the fairgrounds,” Thorpe-Hernandez said, noting it will add sidewalks where there are none. “It’s going to make it safer for pedestrians, it’s going to make it safer for motorists. It’s going to make it safer for everybody.”
The city will also make safety improvements closer to the State Route 4 exit with striping to make the bicycle lanes continuous and the elimination of some street parking in the area, the mayor said.
In addition, Antioch is on track to receive an additional $4 million to design and construct the Antioch Bicycle Garden, a unique, park-like facility that will help community members of all ages and abilities, learn, practice and develop confidence riding bikes. That “bike garden” has already been approved to be built at Prewett Park and will begin construction later this year.
Previously, the city allocated $550,000 from the General Fund for design of the project while the remaining $450,000 in matching funds will come from the Capital Improvement Fund.