Caltrans and the City of Huntington Beach today celebrated a $5 million grant awarded to the city to improve safety and beautify the Oak View neighborhood. The project is made possible through Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, a sweeping $1.1 billion, multiyear clean-up effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create thousands of jobs and engage communities to transform public spaces.
“Clean California continues to provide opportunities for Caltrans to partner with communities and work together to create cleaner and safer public spaces for all Californians,” said Caltrans Acting Director Steven Keck. “Our investment in this project will help to clean, beautify and transform a neighborhood that deserves it.”
The Oak View Neighborhood Cleanup and Beautification project will improve two streets, Oak Lane and Ash Lane, through artistic crosswalk painting, traffic striping and updated traffic and street signage. The project will also include planting trees, landscaping and pedestrian safety improvements such as lighting, sidewalk paving and curb ramps. Artistic neighborhood signage will also create a sense of community identity.
This project will also include a “Keep Your Neighborhood Clean and Beautiful Campaign” and monthly cleanup events designed for residents to drop off bulky household waste items. Huntington Beach also recently announced a complementary pilot program to alleviate parking overcrowding for Oak View residents.
“The cleanliness and beautification of our city and neighborhoods has a direct correlation to quality of life here in Huntington Beach,” said Huntington Beach Mayor Barbara Delgleize. “We are thrilled to be accepting this grant and to have the opportunity to invest further into our Oak View neighborhood.”
The Oak View Neighborhood Cleanup and Beautification is one of 105 Clean California projects statewide funded through nearly $300 million in local grants Caltrans awarded in March to remove litter and transform public spaces in underserved communities. Additionally, in February, Governor Newsom announced 126 beautification projects worth $312 million designed to transform communities along the state highway system. Collectively, these projects are expected to generate 7,200 jobs. Governor Newsom’s California Blueprint proposes an additional $100 million to fund a second round of Clean California local grant projects.
Since launching Clean California in July, Caltrans has removed nearly 572,000 cubic yards of litter from state highways – the equivalent of 9,600 tons or enough to fill 175 Olympic-size swimming pools – and hired 686 new team members as part of Clean California, including 531 maintenance workers who collect litter and remove graffiti. For more information, visit CleanCA.com.