Riverside has secured $7.5 million in federal funds that it will spend on neighborhood safety upgrades.
The money from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2024 Safe Streets For All program will help pay for the $9.3 million Riverside Neighborhood Safety Investment Project, according to a statement on the city’s website.
The project area surrounds Arlington Avenue, Adams Street, La Sierra Avenue and Highway 91. The goal is to revive that area by improving traffic safety and support multiple forms of transportation.
“We want our community to be active by biking and walking, but safety is also a concern,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in the statement. “The federal funds coming to Riverside will bring improvements to our streets, providing our residents a safer place to walk, cycle and exercise.”
Upgrades will include 16 miles of bicycle lanes, crosswalks with audible pedestrian push buttons, curb ramps that comply with Americans With Disabilities Act, about one-half mile of sidewalks, and one mile of upgrades designed to slow traffic, including speed bumps.
Riverside is one of 11 jurisdictions in the state, and the only one in Riverside County, to receive Safe Street funding, the city will provide the remaining $1.8 million to complete its neighborhood project, according to the statement.