With Garamendi’s Assistance, Live Oak Secures $10 Million TIGER Grant for Streetscape Project

LIVE OAK, CA – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, Davis, Yuba City, CA), a Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is pleased to announce that the United States Department of Transportation has awarded $10 million for the Live Oak Streetscape Project through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program.

“This is a textbook example of good public policy. The federal government is stepping in to help the City of Live Oak transform its primary transportation corridor,” Congressman Garamendi said after the announcement. “Live Oak is a rural community that has built tremendous support for this project and secured a sizable funding base. The TIGER Grant will help push the Streetscape Project across the finish line, and I’m glad our work in Washington and Live Oak’s work locally led to this great result.”

The Streetscape Project is a State Route 99 highway improvement project that closely aligns with TIGER grant criteria. SR-99 Is the main street and commercial corridor of the City of Live Oak, and the Streetscape Project will transform the downtown core by improving traffic flow, goods movement, air quality, and safety on the highway. It includes the addition of two travel lanes with a median, a two-way left turn lane, parallel street parking, highly visible crosswalks, separated pedestrian facilities that meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, and improved local street connections. The total project will cost $21.2 million, and the City requested $15.7 million from the TIGER grant after securing a 25% non-federal match.

Garamendi was a strong advocate for this application and worked directly with top officials at the Department of Transportation.

In a letter sent to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on April 27th, 2016, Congressman Garamendi wrote, “I believe this project matches perfectly with the stated goals of the TIGER program. The City of Live Oak has been on a continuous journey for the past decade of establishing a vision, collaborating, building partnerships, and investing and leveraging resources necessary to see their community move from an underserved, struggling, economically depressed environment into a desirable, economically sufficient regional jewel. The fact that, in the process, SR-99 traffic flow will improve for the entire region makes the Live Oak Streetscape Project all the more critical."