LA says it needs six more years, more staff for mobility projects that got $100M from state

Los Angeles won more than $100 million from California in 2022 and 2023 to improve crosswalks, bike infrastructure and general mobility in historically underinvested communities. But it just doesn’t have enough people to implement the three projects in time, city officials have said.

To retain the entirety of the grant funding, the city has requested a six-year time extension on state-mandated deadlines to complete the pre-construction phases of the projects in Boyle Heights, Skid Row and Wilmington. The city is hoping the California Transportation Commission will evaluate its request in June.

City officials previously told LAist that they expected to have a decision on the extension request in May. The California Transportation Commission, which administers the grant program, did not have the time extension request on its agenda for its May meeting last week.

Even if the California Transportation Commission grants the time extension, L.A. officials have said it will need an immediate boost in staffing.

“We just don’t have enough bodies,” Shirley Lau, one of the leaders of the city’s Bureau of Street Services, said in an April meeting to representatives for the L.A. Mayor and other executive offices.

Still, the city said the projects would be valuable.

“The return on investment for the city is substantial, most especially in uncertain financial times,” according to a report accompanying the April meeting.

Earlier this year, Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado and Tim McOsker, whose districts include the three projects, initially moved to cancel the state funding altogether before saying the city would instead pursue an extension.

A spokesperson for Jurado said that remains the plan.

“Councilmember Jurado is fighting to have these positions funded in the next fiscal year budget,” Alejandra Alarcon said in a statement. “Her plan remains to secure the extension, hire the necessary staff, and move these projects forward, not cancel them.”

The extension request

The state’s Active Transportation Program funds capital projects that promote walking, cycling or other non-motorized ways to get around.

The city has several projects that received funding through the program. The three in question would widen sidewalks, improve lighting and add tree shade, among other large-scale capital improvements, to major corridors currently hostile to non-vehicle traffic.

Jurisdictions that win the funds have to adhere to strict timelines to retain the money, which is allocated based on different phases of a capital project.

L.A. is looking for a six-year extension on the environmental review, design and right-of-way clearance phases for the projects, according to Joella Valdez, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Street Services. That means the city is projecting that it could begin soliciting bids from contractors to actually construct the mobility improvements by 2032.

Requests for time extensions are first reviewed by staff in the state’s Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, according to Justin Behrens, a spokesperson for the California Transportation Commission.

A spokesperson for Caltrans confirmed that it has “received requests for time extension packages for City of LA projects that are currently under review.”

Caltrans staff then provides a recommendation to the Commission, whose 11 voting members get the final say.

Time extension is just the first step

According to the report Lau presented in April, the city would need to immediately hire 25 people across the Bureau of Street Services, other public works bureaus and the city’s Department of Transportation.

In a statement, the office of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said “this issue is emblematic of the failed and broken systems that Mayor Bass inherited.” Bass’ office said her proposed budget for the next fiscal year “restores funding for project delivery citywide.”

What happens next

If the commission doesn’t take up L.A.’s request for an extension or if the request is denied, the funding allocated for the initial, environmental review phase for the three projects would lapse and the city would have to find another source of funding to complete the work and progress to the next stage.

“ If we don't put ourselves on the [California Transportation Commission] agenda for June … we lose the money for that phase,” Carlos Rios with L.A.'s Department of Transportation said at the April meeting. “It's done. There's no coming back from it.”

Jurisdictions face the threat of being penalized on future grant applications if they don’t deliver on projects that already received funding, according to the April report.

“Failure to meet the deadlines … will have a significant impact on the city’s future ability to secure grant funding from the program,” the report says.