"According to a flurry of local media, the federal Department of Transportation has withdrawn funds from several discretionary grants aimed at improving safety for people for walk and bike, including a multi-use bike and walk trail along the Naugatuck River in Connecticut, the last miles of a rail trail in the heart of Albuquerque, and a bike trail along Route 66 in McLean County, Virginia."
"The New Mexico grantees were told that US DOT planned to use their funding for "'car-focused' projects instead," KOAT7 reported; Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Executive Director Rick Dunne told CT Post that DOT's rescission letter noted "they're focusing multimodal grant programs on projects that promote vehicular travel." Local media did not indicate why the Virginia project was denied, besides that it "no longer aligned with [the department's] priorities.""
"All three of those grants, which total about $17 million, were awarded by the Biden administration under a program that was then called Rebuilding American Infrastructure With Sustainability and Equity, or simply RAISE. The Trump administration has since renamed that program Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Developments, or BUILD, and its website still says that its purpose is "to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other grant programs.""
Several communities have received notices that the federal Department of Transportation is withdrawing discretionary grants intended to improve safety for people who walk and bike. Affected projects include a multi-use bike and walk trail along the Naugatuck River in Connecticut, the final miles of a rail trail in Albuquerque, and a bike trail along Route 66 in McLean County, Virginia. The rescinded grants total about $17 million. New Mexico grantees were told funds would be used for "car-focused" projects, and DOT's rescission letters noted a focus on promoting vehicular travel. The BUILD program name remains and its website still claims to pursue multimodal projects. Reports indicate additional clawbacks may be occurring.
Read at Streetsblog
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]