The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated $121 million to eight projects in California through the Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Program. This comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom recently appointed former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as his “infrastructure czar.”

On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae takes a closer look at how federal dollars are being used to build up California’s infrastructure.

Rep. Maxine Waters sits down with McRae to talk about the Inglewood Transit Connector Project, which received $15 million from the RAISE grant.

“We’re very pleased about that because that means everything in the South Bay area, getting people to be able to come from Torrance all up through the South Bay to Inglewood,” Waters said.

Waters received millions of dollars in other types of funding to invest in several communities, including the City of Gardena, which will purchase zero-emissions buses.

McRae also speaks to House Minority Leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, about some of the projects that are going on in the 23rd Congressional District, including the Phase II groundbreaking of Shafer Dam.

“It allows not only to be able to store more, but it also protects all the homes down below,” said McCarthy. “And really, when you look long term about California, we need to plan for the future. And creating more water storage is very positive for the future of California.”

Spectrum News 1’s Logan Hall shows us how local and federal leaders in Orange County are working to bring more sand to the eroding coastline through the Surfside-Sunset and Newport Beach Replenishment Project. Sand replenishment was supposed to have been delivered to the coast for decades but was suspended shortly after it began in the 1960s. The new plan now calls for sand replenishment every five years.

Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 9 a.m. and noon Sundays.