FRESNO/TULARE COUNTY – Congressman Jim Costa’s office has announced the securing of millions in federal funding that will go on to support various communities, projects and organizations in the Central Valley through Community Project Funding Awards.
On Feb. 6, Congressman Costa’s office announced the passage of Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding legislation. This legislative package included $11.2 million granted to nine projects in transportation and housing between Fresno and Tulare County, as well as $2.1 million in funds for two water projects in Tulare County.
“For too long, families in the San Joaquin Valley have faced aging infrastructure, food insecurity, and limited access to housing and reliable transportation,” said Costa in the press release. “This funding directly responds to those challenges by investing in safer roads, cleaner air, expanded food access, workforce training, affordable housing, and critical water infrastructure.”
According to the announcement, the funding is supporting critical investments in transportation infrastructure, housing, food security, workforce development, clean energy, water infrastructure and economic growth across the region.
“Together, these projects will create jobs, strengthen our local economy, and ensure our communities have the resources they need not just to get by, but to move forward,” Costa stated.
For interior and environment projects, Dinuba and Woodlake each received $1,092,000 for water projects. Dinuba received funds for the Dinuba Water Tower Replacement Project, meant to replace the outdated 70-year-old water tower with a new 500,000-gallon steel ground mounted water tank.
According to the announcement, this will improve water pressure, enhance fire protection and ensure reliable water service for decades to come.
The city of Woodlake received funds for its Woodlake Storm Drain Enhancement Project. This will enable the city to install approximately 1.350 feet of 48-inch storm water pipeline that’ll connect to the existing system to help prevent future flooding.
The announcement shared that this project is crucial to protect the community’s northwest quadrant, which was heavily impacted by flooding during the 2023 Atmospheric River Storms.
As for transportation, housing and urban development projects, the Reedley College Ag Innovation Center was awarded $2 million to support the construction of the AgTEC Innovation Center at Reedley College, which was described in the release as a hub for advancing agriculture technology. The center will be a space for ag-tech startups, offer certifications, hands-on training for farmworkers and promote innovation to help build a more sustainable food system in the Central Valley.
An award of $1.2 million was granted to the Tulare County partnership with Salt + Light Works, which will help build a social Enterprise Hub at Neighborhood Village, a 53-unit permanent supportive housing community in Goshen. The funding for this project will support expanding the hub to include a grocery store, workforce development and employment programs to empower residents in surrounding communities.
The Exeter Street Improvement project was awarded $500,000 to revitalize Fire Baugh Avenue from West Belmont Avenue to East State Route 65 in Exeter. As noted in the release, the project will connect three major north-south corridors and improve traffic flow for agricultural goods, while reducing congestion and emissions. It also ensures ADA compliance for enhanced accessibility and safety.
An amount of $250,000 was granted to the Visalia Riggin Avenue Widening to improve traffic flow, enhance safety and benefit those who rely on Riggin Avenue for their daily commute. It’ll expand the roadway from an undivided two-lane road to a four-lane divided corridor with a median, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, street lighting and new traffic signals, according to the announcement.
The remaining awards for transportation, housing and urban development projects went to five projects in the Fresno area. The Central California Food Bank Volunteer Center Expansion was awarded $1 million in federal funding and is in partnership with the county of Fresno. The food bank is constructing a 23,000-square-foot Volunteer Center to expand hunger relief efforts across the Central Valley, according to the release.
It’s further noted that the funding will enhance volunteer capacity, provide job training for those facing barriers to employment and increase access to healthy food through a new USDA Protein Repack Room.
The San Joaquin River Project was awarded $2 million to enable the city of Fresno to extend the Lewis S. Eaton trail by about 2.4 miles. A $3.15 million award went to the Fresno Airport Improvement Act, enabling the city of Fresno to plan and design for the expansion of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
The Clean Air Mobility Network Fresno Metro Black Chamber/City of Fresno was awarded $850,000 in federal funding to support a partnership between the city of Fresno and the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce to expand clean transportation access in various parts of the community. And the Fresno Area Business Development Incubator Project was awarded $250,000 to enable the city’s partnership with the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation and establish a full-service business development incubator in a formerly vacant facility in downtown Fresno.
As noted in the announcement, these awards followed four previously approved projects for $6.5 million, which brings total project funding for California’s 21 District to $19.8 million.