Metro Board Sends Nearly $115 Million to South Bay Street Projects

Sidewalks and crossings around three Torrance elementary schools are among the 23 projects. North County got $5.18 million.

The blocks around three Torrance elementary schools are due for new sidewalks, pedestrian signals and high-visibility crosswalks. They're one of 23 South Bay projects that will share about $114.7 million in Measure M and Measure R money approved by Metro's board, according to the agency's announcement, which 2UrbanGirls published Oct. 26 and Metro posted Oct. 27 on its blog, The Source.

North County's share of the same round came to $5.18 million, about $1 for every $22 that went to the South Bay. Most of it, $4.91 million, will pay for wider protected bikeways, a raised median and more street lighting on Challenger Way in Lancaster. Santa Clarita gets $270,000 for trail cameras that can tell a traffic signal when a cyclist is coming.

Measures R and M are half-cent sales taxes that county voters passed in 2008 and 2016, Progressive Railroading noted. Eighteen years later, the older one is still paying for new projects. This round, $4 million of Measure R money goes to the Victoria Transit Center in Carson, a hub that will connect buses with bike paths, rideshare and shuttles.

Long Beach was handled separately. The board approved up to $35 million in Measure M money for the city's Shoreline Drive Realignment Project, which Metro says will also help Long Beach keep a $30 million federal Reconnecting Communities grant. Put another way, county sales-tax money is helping the city hold on to a federal grant.

Source: 2urbangirls.com, retrieved October 28, 2026. Other sources: progressiverailroading.com.