SGV Connect 69: Stormwater Planning in East L.A. and a Look at the Transit Picture Across the Country

11:36 AM PDT on August 14, 2020

Welcome to SGV Connect. In this week's episode, Kris Fortin interviews Paul Alva with the county's Department of Public Works about East L.A. Sustainable Median Stormwater Capture Project. After that, Damien Newton talks to Streetsblog USA Senior Editor Kea Wilson about the state of transit during the ongoing pandemic.

The East L.A. project will convert multiple medians into green multi-benefit sites that capture rainwater and other urban runoff. In several existing street median islands, the project will divert water into bioswales and drywells, allow water to soak into the ground - to recharge aquifers, improve water quality, and lessen flood risk. DPW expects the project to capture approximately 21 acre-feet of urban and stormwater runoff from a 3,000-acre tributary area of mostly residential and commercial properties.

The project will include benches, picnic tables, walking paths, exercise equipment, and quite a bit of vegetation, including more than 300 trees. DPW estimates the cost to be $36 million.

The county provided us a couple of pages from their recent outreach meetings. Click here, here and here to check them out. — Map of the East L.A. Sustainable Median Stormwater Capture Project. Click here, here and here for county presentations on the project.

Read more about the project at the official website, and see why some East L.A. residents are unhappy with the project in this story on L.A. Eastsider.

In the second interview, Wilson explains how national politics are delaying or even killing a second federal relief fund for transit projects and programs.

Wilson also discusses how agencies are responding to the crisis by focusing efforts on making service as usable as possible for essential workers and what transit will look like in our post-COVID future.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

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Kristopher Fortin

Streetsblog California contributor, covering news in Orange County.

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