TAMC RECEIVES $2.25 MILLION CALTRANS PLANNING GRANT FOR THE HIGHWAY 1 ELKHORN SLOUGH CORRIDOR CLIMATE RESILIENCY PROJECT
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
MONTEREY COUNTY – The Transportation Agency of Monterey County (TAMC) announced that the Transportation Agency was awarded a $2.25 million grant from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for the “Highway 1 Elkhorn Slough Corridor Climate Resiliency Project.”
The award is a Climate Adaption Planning grant to evaluate climate vulnerability of the Highway 1 Elkhorn Slough corridor, a key transportation corridor in North Monterey County and is vulnerable to coastal climate change impacts such as sea level rise and storm surges.
The “Highway 1 Elkhorn Slough Corridor Climate Resiliency Project” will focus on the resiliency of an eight-mile segment of Highway 1 through the community of Moss Landing and the parallel rail tracks traversing the Elkorn Slough, as well as county roads. As noted by Todd Muck, Executive Director of TAMC, this eight-mile stretch of Highway 1 through the Elkhorn Slough, “provides local access to Moss Landing, is essential to freight movement, and is a major commuting route connecting Santa Cruz and Monterey.” He further emphasized that the railway runs along the main stem of the Slough for five miles (where the railroad tracks get flooded during king tides) and “is critical to freight and planned expansion of passenger rail service as an alternative option to driving the US 101 to San Jose.”
The $2.25 million Caltrans grant builds upon the initial $1 million State funding project grant secured by Assembly Member Dawn Addis and State Senator John Laird in October 2023. That funding is for planning activities that will evaluate potential critical infrastructure updates to the sea level rise vulnerable transportation corridors along the corridor. This additional funding will enable TAMC to evaluate the viability of corridor alternatives, reach stakeholder consensus, establish a scope, and project design to position projects in the corridor for environmental clearance; ultimately preparing projects for future local, state and federal grant opportunities.
Caltrans awards transportation planning grants each year through a competitive process to encourage local and regional projects. The grant for the Elkhorn Slough project is one of four grants awarded in Caltrans District 5 and one of 89 projects awarded statewide for more than $51 million to help make the state’s transportation system more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
See the attached flyer or visit:
General Elkhorn Slough Resiliency Project Fact Sheet.pdfFor more information, contact Theresa Wright at (831) 775-4411 or Theresa@tamcmonterey.org.
###
“The Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) is responsible for investing in regional transportation projects for Monterey County residents, businesses and visitors. The mission of TAMC is to develop and maintain a multimodal transportation system that enhances mobility, safety, access, environment quality and economic activities in Monterey County. For more information visit www.tamcmonterey.org or call 831.775.0903.”