CHP receives funds to build new home
State officials want to help save lives and keep roadways safe. Today Senator Ben Hueso and Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia announced a $40 million-dollar grant to help CHP build a new home at 4 th Avenue and Danenberg in El Centro.
“At the current facility it’s getting much harder for them to do their actual job. The chp does a lot more functions and performs a lot more duties than they did in nineteen-sixty-six when this building was built. It was built for a staff that is much smaller,” Hueso said.
CHP Captain Arturo Proctor said the current location is too small for them and a new facility is in line with plans to hire more officers.
“It’s weathered, not very modern and it’s very dilapidated. It really is,” Proctor said.
“[We] want the CHP to do their job efficiently, save tax payer dollars. But, also, in the process create new jobs for the people in imperial county and have a building that is worthy of the people of imperial county, one that serves them but also is an attractive building that will add to the skyline and add to the community in a very positive way,” Hueso said.
CHP is responsible for patrolling over 400 miles of state highways and 2,600 miles of county roads. They have 42 uniformed employees and four support staff.
State Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia said that’s a huge responsibility.
“This CHP particularly has a large territory to cover when you look at the region going down to the San Diego county line all the way to the Riverside-Imperial County line down to the Arizona border of the state. They need a significantly improved state-of-the-art facility that can house the men and women in uniform and also the upgraded technologies that are needed for communication purposes as well as for collaboration with other agencies.”
Senator Hueso said the funds are part of a bigger plan to invest in other local areas as well, such as infrastructure and the Salton Sea. He stressed that these were state funds not federal funds.
“At the current facility it’s getting much harder for them to do their actual job. The CHP does a lot more functions and performs a lot more duties than they did in 1966 when this building was built. It was built for a staff that is much smaller,” Hueso said.
The total cost of the CHP project is nearly $45 million dollars.
