StreetsLA Awarded California Natural Resources Agency Grant to Plant 250 Trees for Broadway-Manchester Project
April 29, 2021
LAWT News Service
StreetsLA has been awarded a grant for $713,804 from the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to be used in planting 250 shade street trees, as part of the Broadway-Manchester Active Transportation Equity Project, located in Council District 8.
The Broadway-Manchester project, which already received a $24.9 million Active Transportation Project grant, encompasses a 2.8-mile corridor of underutilized medians on Manchester Avenue from Vermont Avenue to Broadway and on Broadway from Manchester Avenue to Imperial Highway. The medians will be reappropriated into a pedestrian path with cultural and recreational amenities and the street trees will provide much needed shade, help reduce the urban island effect and improve air and water quality. The project is currently in design.
"Restoring the South LA Tree canopy is key to addressing long standing health issues in our community," said Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson. "The Broadway Manchester project represents what can happen when Cities work collaboratively with residents to reimagine their neighborhoods with equity at the forefront. These additional 250 trees will punctuate the investments happening along the Broadway Manchester corridor and contribute to creating a living lung alongside projects like Isla Intersections."
"We want to thank the CNRA for providing this important funding to plant 250 trees along these areas of Broadway and Manchester to provide shade and urban cooling," said StreetsLA Executive Director and General Manager Adel Hagekhalil. "This is part of our commitment to equity and to increase tree canopy in the areas of the City that need it most.”
The CNRA Urban Greening Grant Program provided $28.5 million for 25 projects throughout the state. The program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.