Paying for Walkable Communities

Aug 11 2008

Paying for Walkable Communities

So you have a plan — or at least a concept — that will enhance the livability index for your community by offering some great new opportunities for walking and bicycling. Maybe it’s a conceptual layout for a beautifully landscaped riverwalk, or a shared-use pathway that would strategically meander from key residential areas to the central business district, and onward to the town park. Maybe it involves establishing safer routes to school. At any rate, your local group (be it a municipal board or a citizens’ advisory committee) is pretty proud of its plan, and you have a strong community consensus giving the green light to go ahead and build it.

But how are you going to pay for it?

Needless to say, this is where many of the best community betterment ideas fall apart. You have to be pretty savvy about state and federal buraeaucracy in order to know where to look for funding. And you have to be diligent in fulfilling all the requirements for funding — then patient with the often lengthy selection process.

Fact is, there is simply not enough money to go around for all the well-conceived pedestrian/bicycle pathway and sidewalk projects that are out there — so you have to make damn sure your proposed project stands out as one of the best. That takes good planning, good research, a solid consensus — and yes, a good grant writer.

Pedestrian and shared-use facilities do not come cheap, even though the right-of-way (ROW) width and the pathway surface generally amount to far less than what motorized traffic would require. Even a relatively small project involving only a mile of pathway with a stone-dust (not paved) surface and only a few accessory structures or amenities can easily amount to close to a million dollars.

Most communities find that funding from outside (mainly State and Federal) sources is absolutely essential in order to make such a project affordable to local taxpayers. It’s a good idea to start early and learn as much as you can about these funding sources: their eligibility requirements, the degree and type of funding each can offer, where to contact them for advice, and how and when to file an application.

So herewith, a brief rundown of some of the main funding sources you should not overlook:

Transportation Enhancements Program (TEP): The Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP) is a federal reimbursement program under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), administered by the New York Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). Since transportation systems are influenced and impacted by more than the condition of the traditional highway and bridge infrastructure, this program enables funding for transportation projects of cultural, aesthetic, historic and environmental significance. Eligible projects must fall into one or more of the twelve Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) categories, and the program requires a local matching share of 20% of eligible project costs.

Recreational Trails Program: In New York, RTP is a program of the NYS Department of Transportation administered by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP). The Recreational Trails Program is a State-administered, Federal assistance program to provide and maintain recreational trails for both motorized and non-motorized recreational trail use. Eligible projects must: a.) be legally and physically accessible to the public, or be a portion of an identified trailways project which, when completed, will be legally and physically accessible to the public; b.) be physically and environmentally developable as a trailway; c.) be planned and developed under the laws, policies and administrative procedures of the State; and d.) be identified in, or further a specific goal of, a trail plan referenced in the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) required by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, or the State Recreational Trail Plan.

Transportation Improvements Program (TIP): The U.S. Dept. of Transportation requires that every municipal planning organization (MPO) develop a Transportation Improvements Program, or TIP. The TIP is a staged, multi-year program of projects; it identifies the timing and funding of all highway, bridge, transit, intelligent transportation system, bicycle, and pedestrian transportation projects scheduled for implementation in the region during the next five years using federal transportation funds. Since each regional MPO develops its own TIP, you’ll need to contact the one that covers your locality. Here are the links for transportation MPOs in New York State: