SOUTH LOS ANGELES — A stretch of Slauson Avenue is about to get a lot more shade. LA Sanitation and Environment announced Thursday that it will plant 1,600 trees along the major east-west thoroughfare in South LA.

The California Natural Resources Agency awarded a $500,000 grant to LASAN to plant the trees as part of its Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation grant program.

Part of an effort to combat the impacts of transportation facilities, the trees will be planted near a former rail line on the north side of Slauson Avenue between Crenshaw Boulevard and Alameda Street. The Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority is repurposing the area as a bike and pedestrian path.

“Along with the shade these trees will bring, it will help reduce the temperature and sequester carbon as LASAN continues to support the city’s efforts in environmental justice,” LASAN General Manager Barbara Romero said in a statement.

LA’s Green New Deal calls for planting 90,000 new trees citywide and increasing forest canopy in low-income heat zones 50% by 2028. Temperatures on LA streets can get as hot as 140 degrees, with sidewalks sometimes reaching 120 degrees, according to USC researchers. Trees can reduce street and sidewalk temperatures by as much as 50%.