The Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians will receive more than $2.2 million to construct an evacuation route from a remote area of their reservation, it was announced Monday.
The $2,262,615 received by the Ewiiaapaayp Band is part of $60.6 million secured by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, and comes through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation grant program is disbursing the funds.
“As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of floods, wildfires, and extreme heat, climate-smart transportation infrastructure can be the difference between life and death,” Padilla said.
“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re delivering major investments in underserved and tribal communities to expedite emergency response and secure reliable emergency evacuation routes while creating more good-paying construction jobs.”
The Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians’ reservation is more than 4,100 acres near Alpine and Mount Laguna. The funding from the PROTECT Grant Program will go directly toward engineering design, environmental design and construction for road improvements on a 3.79-mile segment of Thing Valley Road.
The project will “create a secondary evacuation route for the safe passage of tribal members and emergency response staff in the event of an emergency, such as a wildfire,” according to Padilla’s office.
Robert Pinto Sr. is chairman of the Ewiiaapaayp Band.
Eligible projects under the PROTECT Grant Program include highway and transit projects, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and port facilities, including those that help improve evacuations or disaster relief.
In 2022, Padilla announced more than $631 million over five years for the PROTECT Formula Program.
