AGENDA #3b
BUDGET WORKING PAPER
TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Roger Waldon, Planning Director
SUBJECT: Possible Grants for Pedestrian Issues and Infrastructure
DATE: March 6, 2002
The purpose of this working paper is to respond to a question raised about possible grants for pedestrian issues and infrastructure.
On January 29, 2002, the Council held a public hearing to receive comments on the budget, Capital Improvements Program, Community Development, HOME and Capital Fund Programs. Citizens were invited to present their ideas of how funds could be spent in these areas.
On February 13, 2002, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, along with other advisory boards, presented recommendations for funding to the Council.
One idea that was raised in both of these discussions was to pursue alternative sources of funding for pedestrian improvements and programs.
We have reviewed the alternative funding sources below:
HUD Community Development Block Grants: Community Development funds can be used to make sidewalk and bicycle improvements. The use of funds must benefit low and moderate income persons or areas. For example, Chapel Hill has used funds to provide a sidewalk in conjunction with the Scarlette Drive affordable town homes project, and has used funds to build sidewalks serving lower-income neighborhoods.
TEA-21 Federal Funds: The Town has taken advantage of federal transportation funding provided by the TEA-21 legislation. Working with the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee, we have been able to secure funding for various pedestrian improvements through the use of the Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation fund. The recommended 2002-2017 Chapel Hill Capital Improvements Program includes a provision for using Town funds as local match to leverage additional Direct Allocation funds for sidewalk construction.
The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee has allocated $200,000 in Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation funds, beginning in FY 2004, for bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the region. Chapel Hill can apply for these funds.
North Carolina Department of Transportation: The NCDOT allocates approximately $3 million per year for bicycle and pedestrian projects statewide, with an individual project cap of $300,000. Municipalities apply directly to NCDOT for these funds, but funded projects are selected from local projects on the Transportation Improvement Program list. We have considered applying for these funds in the past, but many of the Town’s sidewalk projects listed in the Transportation Improvement Program exceed the $300,000 cap. If the Council wished to pursue this strategy, we could evaluate sidewalk projects currently on the Transportation Improvement Program list for appropriateness, and add other projects in the future that may better fit the parameters of this program.
The federal transportation funding program also includes monies for Transportation Enhancements. Sidewalk and bicycle facilities are eligible projects for funding under this program. The NCDOT administers this program. The Town has secured funding from this program for the Lower Booker Creek Linear Park.
Federal Transit Technical Assistance: This program funds projects which develop, test and demonstrate innovative technologies, service concepts, techniques, and analytical tools for planning, operating and managing transit enterprises and improving customer service. It is unclear whether these funds could be used for implementing new technologies for pedestrian improvements. We will find out if these funds can be used, but given the information we currently have, doubt that they can be used for pedestrian improvements.
There are a variety of alternative funding sources for pedestrian improvements and programs, some of which the Town currently uses or is actively pursuing. The major sources of funding described above are targeted for infrastructure improvements.
There may also be other sources of funding for pedestrian programs not targeted at infrastructure, including funding for pedestrian and bicycling promotion and education programs. If the Council indicates a desire to pursue these funding sources, we could research these possibilities and report back to the Council.