Latest news with #SurfaceTransportationBlockGrant
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
County awarded first $1M toward new shared user trail
May 13—Freeborn County has received its first $1 million grant to go toward the development of the shared user trail planned on the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad line from Albert Lea to Hartland, County Engineer Phil Wacholz shared with the Board of Commissioners last week. Wacholz said the funds were through the Active Transportation Program through the state and were for the first portion of the trail from Fountain Street to Manchester, except for the crossing at Minnesota Highway 13 — estimated at $3.8 million. The Minnesota Department of Transportation website states the program provides grants and technical assistance to "make walking, biking and rolling better." Wacholz said there was not a match requirement for the funds, though he noted subsequent grants will likely require a match. The money becomes available July 1 and would likely be spent in 2027, he said. The county also applied for a $1.6 million Local Partnership Program grant for the crossing on Highway 13, but was not awarded the funds for that grant, Wacholz said. He said that program focuses on projects on the trunk highway system that are not a priority for MnDOT but that are local priorities. Freeborn County and the city of Albert Lea have been working toward the development of the trail for the last several years and in 2023 approved a joint trail action plan that discusses the development of the property. The plan breaks the trail up into possible development segments that could be completed, as well as possible costs. Trail enthusiasts and city and county officials say the trail would benefit people walking, and biking and improve access to schools, parks and even the rural areas. When complete, the trail would run 15 miles from Albert Lea to Manchester and then north to Hartland, where eventual plans call for extending it to New Richland, Waseca and even Waterville, where the Sakatah Singing Hills State Bike Trail is located. The county board last month approved the name for the trail after soliciting ideas from the Albert Lea Parks Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Freeborn County Trail Association. It will now be known as the Songbird Trail. Other grants Wacholz also announced the county had been awarded a Surface Transportation Block Grant for $4.6 million for the reconditioning of County Road 45, which runs from Albert Lea to Clarks Grove. The last time the county had received funds from this grant was for Bridge Avenue, when the county received $2.6 million. At that time, the city of Albert Lea also applied for and was awarded a sibling grant for almost $4 million for the project. "This is not an opportunity we get very often," Wacholz said, noting it generally takes place every six to 10 years.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Westover sidewalk delayed as state prepares US 19 corridor study
Mar. 20—WESTOVER — It's one of those good news, bad news situations. The bad news — A highly requested sidewalk project along Westover's Fairmont Road is being delayed at least a year. The good news — The delay is tied to a planning study that could lead to significant corridor improvements, sidewalks included, through the heart of the city. When the roughly $1.5 billion in federal RAISE Grant (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) awards were announced for 2024, the West Virginia Department of Transportation had three projects on the list. One in Charleston. One in Beckley. One in Westover. In Westover, the state is looking to spend the $1, 275, 000 grant to take a good, hard look at the U.S. 19 corridor that runs the length of the city as Fairmont Road and Holland Avenue. According to the information included with the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2024 RAISE awards, improvements are sorely needed. "The project will improve the safety of the US 19 corridor for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The corridor currently poses a range of safety risks, which will be addressed with a combination of new sidewalks, repaired sidewalks, bike lanes and enhanced traffic management." The local Metropolitan Planning Organization agrees it's a priority. It listed the corridor as a Tier 1 project as part of the 2022 update to its Metropolitan Transportation Plan. At that time, the cost of the needed upgrades were estimated at $13.3 million. When Westover was informed of the pending study, the news came with a request from the state. "So, they're committed to making that better and the DOH came to us and asked us if we could postpone the sidewalk grants until they were done with this study, because they want to make sure all the work that gets done on this corridor, from front to back, fits with this study, basically, " Westover Public Works Director Jason Stinespring said. The sidewalk grants in question are a collection of funding sources pulled together by the city to construct a much-needed sidewalk along Fairmont Road, starting at Savannah Street and running toward Dents Run Boulevard. Two of those funding sources — a $400, 000 Surface Transportation Block Grant through the MPO and a $125, 000 Transportation Alternative Grant — are state sourced. Stinespring said those funds will be held for future use. That's not the case for a $400, 000 Community Development Block Grant, which the city will essentially lose. Westover's plan was to build as much sidewalk as the funds would cover, then pick it up again when more money became available. "[The state ] is doing this [study ] to eventually have all this work done, so they said there's going to be plenty of money to pull from to probably get a sidewalk the whole way down the road, to be honest with you, " Stinespring said, explaining any projects resulting from the study are likely at least two years away. "With the state putting that much effort into it with a million-dollar grant, our thinking at least is they're really wanting to do something nice with this, " he said. "It does stink with all the work we put into it, and we were excited for the sidewalk, but I think trying to look in the long-term, working with them on this is going to get us the best product in the corridor."
