Press Release
02/17/10 – Mayor Newsom today applauded the announcement by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program award of $46,000,000 for the replacement of Doyle Drive in San Francisco. The announcement came as Mayor Newsom joined U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to highlight job creation and economic growth spurred by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on the one-year anniversary of its passage.
“With Speaker Pelosi’s leadership, San Francisco is investing federal stimulus dollars to rebuild our city and regional infrastructure and create thousands of jobs,” said Mayor Newsom. “The Doyle Drive Replacement Project will rebuild a vital and seismically vulnerable regional transportation link and boost our local economy.”
The TIGER Discretionary Grant Program was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to spur a national competition for innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation. Projects funded with the $1.5 billion allocated in the Recovery Act include improvements to roads, bridges, rail, ports, transit and intermodal facilities.
TIGER funds will close the gap in a $1.045 billion financing package for the replacement of Doyle Drive in San Francisco County. The project will help create the new Presidio Parkway, which includes construction of a high-viaduct structure between the Park Presidio Interchange and San Francisco National Cemetery, maintenance of existing parking and improvements in pedestrian access. The project will improve an important commuter route for both highway and transit riders in an environmentally enhanced way and within the existing footprint.
The Doyle Drive Replacement Project will improve the seismic, structural and traffic safety of Doyle Drive while remaining sensitive to the Presidio as a National Park. Built in 1936, the current highway no longer meets acceptable standards for withstanding earthquakes; its bridges and viaducts do not meet structural integrity standards; and it lacks capacity to safely handle the large volume of daily traffic.
The City and County of San Francisco has received $328 million in Federal Stimulus Funding. In total, San Francisco residents will benefit from nearly $1 billion in Federal Stimulus Funding, creating more than 2,900 jobs.
Notable ARRA grants to the City and County of San Francisco include
- $71.8 million in transit capital assistance grants benefitting the SF MTA, and MUNI riders – including fare collection equipment replacement, light rail vehicle doors and steps reconditioning and systems rehabilitation, and motor coach life cycle rehabilitation. Through the last reporting cycle, the Agency expended $25.8 million and created more than 600 jobs.
- $29.8 million in funding for San Francisco International Airport to improve airport security and runway safety at SFO.
- $16.6 million in COPS funding for the San Francisco Police Department to hire and train 50 new police officers.
- $33.2 million in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the San Francisco Housing Authority for building repairs including weatherization, painting, health and safety and general site improvements. These funds will also improve energy efficiency and conservation in San Francisco’s public housing. Through the last reporting cycle, the Housing Authority has expended $3.2 million and created 191.90 jobs.
- 32.2 million in TANF-ECF funding. This has allowed San Francisco to create the Jobs Now! SF program, a 100% wage subsidy program that allows private and public sector employers to hire unemployed San Franciscans. To date, San Francisco’s Jobs Now! program has helped 1,854 residents get back to work.