The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that work on the final segment of the Doyle Drive Replacement project in San Francisco can move ahead thanks to $46 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. A final grant agreement for the federal funds has been signed between DOT, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
“Investments like this reaffirm President Obama’s commitment to creating jobs and rebuilding America’s transportation infrastructure,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This grant will reduce area traffic congestion and safeguard one of America’s most economically and historically significant cities from earthquake damage.”
The $46 million in Recovery Act funds will be used to help create access from the Presidio Parkway to local roads, improve safety of the aging route and replace a bridge rated as California’s worst for structural sufficiency. When completed in 2015, the $1 billion Doyle Drive Replacement – also known as the Presidio Parkway project – will replace the 73-year-old Doyle Drive southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge and make structural and seismic improvements to the Presidio Trust and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area nearby.
Replacing Doyle Drive has been a priority for state, local and federal officials for more than 50 years. Recovery Act dollars helped the project start a year earlier than originally planned. “Given the reliance the Bay Area places on this major route, this grant will help create jobs for hundreds of workers and significantly improve safety for thousands of motorists each day,” says Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez.
The grant is part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program included in the Recovery Act to promote innovative, multimodal and multijurisdictional transportation projects that provide significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, region or the nation. DOT announced the selection of $1.5 billion worth of TIGER grants for 51 projects as part of the first anniversary of the Recovery Act on Feb. 17.
