The Biden administration is releasing hundreds of millions of dollars for non-automotive transportation in its final days — XXX
Last week, USDOT announced nearly $5 billion in competitive grants, which will finance the planning or construction of more than 500 transportation projects in all 50 states, D.C., and several U.S. territories.
For sustainable transportation advocates, some of the most exciting buckets of money that were poured out included the Reconnecting Communities Program and Rebuilding American Infrastructure With Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) programs, as well as the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program.
Between the first two programs, advocacy group Rails-to-Trails conservancy says than more than three-quarters of announced projects will address the needs of pedestrians and cyclists in some way, and about 20 percent of the money will exclusively benefit active modes. In the latter program — for which funds were appropriated by Congress only recently, and which is only releasing its first grants now — all the projects will focus on the needs of people who walk and roll.
Some advocates fear that the future of all those programs could be in jeopardy during the next Trump administration, which will oversee the reauthorization of the country's core transportation projects in September 2026. And even if the impetus towards sustainable transport survives, there's little guarantee that the next DOT will fund shared and active modes, considering the last Trump cabinet's troubling track record of granting discretionary dollars to rural highway projects.
Still, Secretary Buttigieg said he was grateful to have one last opportunity to help address "some of the most profound and wide-ranging transportation crises in the modern era" in the final days of his term.
"Though the Biden-Harris administration is drawing to a close, today we’re proud to announce one more major round of grants to keep that work going and further modernize our roads and rails, build out a national EV charger network, and ensure that transportation in the 21st century lives up to its basic promise and connects more communities across our nation," the secretary said in a release. "It’s a big deal.”
View the full list of ATIIP, RCP, and RAISE grants on the DOT website, and check out a round up of Golden State projects that were awarded grants on our sister site, Streetsblog California. But here are a few of the grants that are making headlines:
Reconnecting Communities Program
- Rochester, N.Y. won a whopping $100 million to continue work on one of the most iconic highways-to-boulevards projects in American history: the Inner Loop Transformation project. This phase of construction will help remove the north side of the notorious downtown highway, reclaiming 22 acres for new development, green space, complete streets, and more.
- Baltimore won't go so far as to outright remove U.S. 40 from its western neighborhoods, but it did score a staggering $85 million to cap one block of that highway, remove several ramps, and incorporate Complete Streets-style safety improvements at select intersections.
- Cleveland secured an impressive $69.2 million to mitigate "a century's worth of transportation and land use decisions that have separated the Greater Cleveland community from its greatest natural asset: Lake Erie." That money will "substantially reconfigure" a freeway that currently separates the Forest City from its lakefront and build a "park-like pedestrian land bridge that will provide a safe and welcoming linkage to the waterfront and catalyze opportunities for new public amenities."
- The Boston-area hub of Sommerville snagged $43.1 million to replace the McGrath Highway with a ground-level, multimodal boulevard. Neighboring Boston also bagged two different $2-million planning grants to reconnect Mattapan Square and redesign the JFK/UMass Station.
- $30 million will help Vancouver, Wash. build a lid over a downtown segment of Interstate 5, another segment of which is the subject of a controversial widening.
- Los Angeles will use its $26.6-million grant to address transportation-related disadvantages in Watts by "creating a cohesive network of safe and accessible pathways and facilities for all users."
- Las Vegas hit the jackpot with $15.7-million award to "foster transportation choice" along Washington and H streets with a range of complete streets improvements.
- Chicago will challenge car supremacy along Interstate 290, with the help of a $10-million grant to advance the Reconnecting Independence Boulevard Land Cap project that includes inviting, safe, and accessible bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
- Streetsblog has been closely following the Rondo African American Cultural Enterprise District and Community Land Bridge project in St. Paul, Minn., and the team behind it just took home a $2-million planning grant to make the project a reality.
- New York City also notched a $2-million prize for the Arches Plaza, which will "repurpose two acres of previously inaccessible space under the Brooklyn Bridge into a destination plaza that serves surrounding communities." DOT also awarded $400,000 to fund a planning study for QueensLink, which supporters hope will one day lead to restoring a defunct rail line.
- Finally, we were pleased to see that the Michigan capital of Lansing won $1.4 million to study to reconnect communities across Interstate 496. Streetsblog talked to Mayor Andy Schor about his years-long quest to secure this funding on our podcast, The Brake.
RAISE
- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey raked in $25 million to implement a road diet and an off-roadway protected bike corridor that adds east-west connectivity along a notoriously dangerous corridor.
- Tempe also nabbed $25 million to build the Upstream Dam Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge across the Rio Salado River, as well as a shared-use path providing a direct connection from the bridge and other amenities.
- Also taking home $25 million was Milwaukee, which will do a Complete Streets overhaul along a long stretch of National Avenue.
- Seattle snagged another $25 million to redo its Graham Street light rail station and install pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements along the road where it's located.
- Yet another $25 million winner was Benton and Washington counties in Arkansas, which submitted a joint application for 17.5 miles of safety improvements and separated multiuse paths along a state highway. That will help connect a region that's already home to one of the most impressive bike/walk networks in America.
- Chicagoland commuters in Cook County will get $23.6 million to reconstruct Metra's Rogers Park Station with ADA compliant boarding platforms, heated platform and more, and another $24.4 to upgrade the Van Buren Street Station, too.
- Rural communities got a lot of love from this year's RAISE cycle, including the city of Martinsburg, W.V., which won $20.8 million to build a 6.2 mile multiuse trail with connection to transit, downtown, and residential neighborhoods.
- Oklahoma City is going big on bus stops, thanks to a $19.5-million grant that will construct or enhance approximately 360 stops and 10 miles of ADA accessible sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements.
- West Maui is saying aloha to a $15.4-million grant to help build the 5.3-mile West Maui Greenway, including a dedicated path for non-motorized users and a range of safety countermeasures where the trail meets car traffic.
- Finally, Ohio capital Columbus took home $12 million for a seven mile trail along a former rail corridor that will be fully ADA accessible.
ATIIP
- Philadelphia scored the largest grant of the first ATIIP cycle, with $13.7 windfall fto "close a critical gap in the Schuylkill River Trail ... adjacent to historically disadvantaged communities in the southwest section of the city, completing a 39-mile off-road, riverside, multi-use trail."
- Detroit took home $10.5 million to help build the Joe Louis Greenway, which will one day connect 23 Detroit neighborhoods with 27.5 miles of protected paths.
- Nashville also notched a $9.4 million grant for its “East Nashville Spokes” project, which links historically underserved neighborhoods with downtown Nashville via dedicated bikeways and pedestrian pathways.
