SLO County congressman celebrates $1 billion invested in Central Coast infrastructure

State and local representatives gathered on Thursday to celebrate more than $1 billion in federal money that has been invested to improve highways, airports, environmental resiliency and more on the Central Coast.

The investments were made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Biden-Harris Administration passed the sweeping infrastructure bill in November 2021 to improve America’s roads and trails, expand access to clean drinking water and high-speed internet, and tackle the climate crisis while creating jobs across the country. The bill allocates around $1.2 trillion in total to civic projects nationwide, about half of which will go toward new initiatives.

Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, was among those who came to town to celebrate the $1 billion milestone for infrastructure projects across the Central Coast and 13,000 local jobs created by the federal program.

Carbajal helped draft the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was one of 221 members of Congress who voted in support of the legislation.

“It’s the largest investment for infrastructure that has been made in the history of our country,” Carbajal said at the press tour. “The law brings new federal funds to projects across the Central Coast and broader state.”

As of March, California had received $41 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for thousands of projects statewide.

The congressman’s appearance on Thursday marked a billion dollars given to projects within the 24th District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County along with parts of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Close to 200 local projects have received federal investments to date, including a $2.3 million grant to finish the Bob Jones Bike Trail among many others.

The largest individual investment made thus far was for more than $101 million in fiscal year 2022 to convert Highway 46 into a four- lane expressway near Shandon.

On Thursday, Carbajal visited three locations across the Central Coast where federal infrastructure dollars are making an impact.

At the SLO Regional Transit Authority center, the congressman and other local representatives highlighted a $11.5 million investment that will help double the size of a new zero-emission bus fleet from seven to 14 all-electric public transit vehicles.

“We look forward to expanding our zero-emission future here in the coming years,” RTA Executive Director Geoff Straw said. “It’s going to make our air cleaner, easier to breathe, and (they’re) going to be quieter, state-of-the-art buses that our riders and our drivers and employees can work with.”

Carbajal then visited the bluffs at Dinosaur Caves Park to recognize $200,000 in funding granted to prevent ocean cliff erosion in Pismo Beach.

“Our climate along the Central Coast, one of the most beautiful parts of the country, is susceptible and vulnerable.” Pismo Beach City Manager Jorge Garcia said. “Climate change isn’t a theory. It’s something that’s been happening, and we’ve seen storms intensify. That’s led to more bluff damage, more bluff erosion.”

The Pismo coastal region alone has seen $23 million of damage over the last two years, Garcia said.

The federally funded bluff restoration project will provide a “long-term fix” by replacing all of the storm drain infrastructure and adding a secure wall to protect the street and ocean bedrock.

The total project will cost about $3.1 million, according to Garcia. The federal investment will be supplemented by other local funding channels like Caltrans.

Finally, the congressman stopped in Oceano to survey a nearly 7-mile stretch of road and bike lane on Highway 1 that was completely repaved with a $13 million federal infrastructure grant.

The project used a sustainable rubberized asphalt made of recycled tires, diverting 25,000 tires from the landfill for the work, Caltrans District 5 Director Scott Eades said.

The $1 billion in investments comes at around the halfway point on a five-year timeline for the bipartisan bill funds.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will sunset in 2026, but the congressman is optimistic about the future.

“More is coming,” Carbajal said. “We’re going to see a lot of our infrastructure modernized, and at the end of the day, that means improved lives of residents in our area.”