In The News

Elk Grove will get $4 million in federal funds for projects across the city, Rep. Ami Bera's office announced this week.

The city's Old Town streetscaping project won $2 million to widen Elk Grove Boulevard from School Street east to Waterman Road, adding bike lanes and making the boulevard more accessible to those with physical disabilities.

The project builds on the city's work to revitalize the east side historic district, positioning it as a community gathering place. Elk Grove opened its pavilion at Old Town Plaza on Railroad Street last summer and drew Turlock-based Dust Bowl Brewing Co. to Old Town.

Bera, D-Elk Grove, said in a statement that the funding will help to expand and improve the region's roadways, bike lanes and public transportation options, while easing congestion and putting people to work.

The dollars are part of $19.6 million in community project funding for six Sacramento-area projects that were approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives. Other projects in the package include street safety improvements in Folsom, Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station conversions and continued work on the Highway 50-to-Interstate 5 Capital SouthEast Connector project at White Rock Road.

Bera touted the Old Town project in a visit with Elk Grove city leaders a year ago to update them on his push for the funds.

"With the streetscape project, with more restaurants coming in, with the new Old Town Plaza, it is really going to pull the west side of Elk Grove and the east side of Elk Grove together and give us a place to gather as a community," Bera told The Bee.

The brewery's Elk Grove taproom and restaurant opened on Railroad Street last December.

Plans to lay sewer, gas and telecommunications are also part of plans for future development in Old Town. A new branch library is also planned for the former Rite Aid site at Elk Grove Boulevard and Waterman Road.

Another $2 million will go to build a bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing spanning Highway 99 along the city's Laguna Creek trail system. City planners say the overpass will be a transportation alternative to its busy boulevards and bridges a gap in the trail allowing for a continuous 7 miles of trail through the city.

"Securing federal funding for these priority transportation initiatives in our community will make a difference — not just for the city of Elk Grove, but for the greater Sacramento region," Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said in the statement announcing the funding.