U. S. Transportation Secretary Slater Announces $13.1 Million in Grants To Help Make Communities More Livable

Topics:  Rodney E. Slater

Federal Highway Administration
May 3, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 3, 1999
Contact: Jim Pinkelman
Telephone: 202-366-0660
FHWA 30-99

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced that 35 proposals totaling $13.1 million will receive funding under an innovative initiative called the Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot program (TCSP), which serves as a key component of the Clinton Administration’s livability agenda.

"This financial tool will help make communities more livable by preserving green space, easing traffic congestion and employing ‘smart growth’ strategies," Secretary Slater said. "Through funding like this, we can protect our environment while growing our economy, demonstrating once again President Clinton’s commitment to putting people first."

Vice President Gore in January launched a comprehensive agenda to strengthen the government’s role as a partner with state and local efforts to build livable communities for the 21st century.

TCSP is an initiative consisting of research and grants that will assist communities as they work to solve interrelated problems involving transportation, land development, environmental protection, public safety and economic development. It was established in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the six-year surface transportation law signed into law by President Clinton on June 9, 1998.

TCSP funds will be used to help achieve locally determined goals such as improving transportation efficiency; reducing the negative effects of transportation on the environment; providing better access to jobs, services and trade centers; reducing the need for costly future infrastructure; and revitalizing underdeveloped and brownfield sites. Grants also can be used to examine urban development patterns and create strategies that encourage private companies to work toward these goals in designing new developments.

The 35 projects were selected from an initial pool of 524 applications, evaluated by a multi-disciplinary panel from the Environmental Protection Agency and the department’s Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Research and Special Program Administration.

As a key transportation component of its livability agenda, the Clinton Administration has requested $50 million for the TCSP program for fiscal 2000 to respond to overwhelming interest from communities around the country.

"TCSP is an exciting and innovative program that recognizes the close link between transportation and the environment, as well as the importance of overall development for a community," FHWA Administrator Kenneth R. Wykle said. "It implements our commitment to protecting the environment while growing the economy."

Following is a list of the grant winners by state, showing the community, the amount received, and a brief description or title of the project.

Alaska
Anchorage: $250,000. Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) Community Transportation Cooperative.

Arizona
Tempe: $225,000. Transit Overlay District and University Drive Subarea Study/Integrated Transportation Plan, Model, and Local Transit-Oriented Design Guidelines.

California
San Francisco Planning Department: $177,000. Land Use Support for the Mission Street Transit Corridor.

Escalon: $150,000. Escalon High School Linkage Project.

Mono County: $182,000. Lee Vining Community Planning Project.

Connecticut
Hartford Metropolitan Area: $480,000. Picture It Better Together: Taking Transportation Goals From Policy to Reality.

District of Columbia
Metropolitan Washington Region: $380,000. Implement Adopted Transportation Vision for the Metropolitan Washington: Develop Circulation Systems and Green Space.

Florida
Gainesville Metropolitan Area: $150,000. Development and Application of Integrated Land Use and Transportation Sketch Planning Methods.

Idaho
Ada/Canyon Counties: $510,000. Treasure Valley Futures: New Choices for the American West.

Kentucky
Central Bluegrass Region: $435,000. An Integrated Model for Transportation Planning and Context Sensitive Design.

Louisiana
New Orleans Metropolitan Area: $450,000. Transportation/Community Systems Optimization through Non-Traditional Partnering and Infrastructure Prioritization.

Maryland
State of Maryland: $450,000. Maryland Integrating Transportation & Smart Growth (MINTS).

Michigan
Saginaw Metropolitan Area: $48,000. Retrofitting Anytown, USA.

Lansing/Tri-County Region: $355,000. Regional Growth: Choices For Our Future.

Missouri
Kansas City Metropolitan Area: $600,000. SMART CHOICES-Options for Creating Quality Places.

Montana
City of Laurel: $85,000. Transportation and Community Sustainability Plan.

New Jersey
Northern New Jersey: $700,000. Preparing Modern Intermodal Freight Infrastructure to Support Brownfield Economic Redevelopment.

State of New Jersey: $535,000. Transit-friendly Communities for New Jersey.

New York
City of Troy: $70,000. Waterfront Redevelopment.

North Carolina
Research Triangle Region: $450,000. Regional Development & Mobility Principles.

Ohio
Woodmere Village, Cleveland: $195,000. Making Chagrin Boulevard a Place Instead of a Dividing Road: A Greater Cleveland Demonstration Project in Woodmere Village.

City of Dayton: $300,000. Tool Town.

Oregon
Portland Metropolitan Area: $500,000. Urban Reserve Planning for the Portland Metropolitan Region.

Willamette Valley: $600,000. Evaluate the Transportation Impacts of Possible Futures in Oregon's Willamette Valley Organization.

Pennsylvania
Centre County: $500,000. Creating a Community-based Sustainable Future for I-99: A Watershed Approach.

Philadelphia Metropolitan Area: $665,600. Implement Transit Oriented Development in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area; Schuylkill Valley Metro (SVM) Corridor Station Area Planning and Implementation.

Rhode Island
City of Providence: $600,000. Olneyville Square Inter-modal Transit Center.

South Carolina
Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester Region: $300,000. Development and Implementation of a Model Program Strategy to Link Transportation, Infrastructure and Land Use Planning for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Region of South Carolina.

Tennessee
Johnson City: $275,000. The Land Use and Transportation Plan.

Texas
City of Houston: $500,000. Main Street Corridor Planning and Research Project.

Utah
Greater Wasatch Area: $425,000. Envision Utah.

Virginia
Charlottesville Metropolitan Area: $517,920. Jefferson Area Eastern Planning Initiative.

Washington
Central Puget Sound Region: $400,000. Transit Station Communities Project.

West Virginia
City of Martinsburg: $300,000. Historic Baltimore & Ohio Roundhouse Renovation Project.

Wisconsin
Dane County: $365,000. Design Dane Phase II.