Every once in a while, after laying the groundwork through planning and relationship-building, we connect with opportunities to take a significant leap forward. These next ten weeks are a moment of opportunity for the Greenway perhaps not seen since the federal stimulus programs of 2009.
As we wrote in March, the federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) program has invested tens of millions of dollars in the East Coast Greenway's development over the years. Congress' omnibus spending bill passed in late March tripled TIGER funding from $500 M last year to $1.5 billion this year. TIGER was just re-branded BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) in the US DOT announcement of the proposal deadline for projects: July 19.
We want to work with all of you to at least triple our impact this round, showing how transformative the Greenway is for our region and how much progress we can make in rural areas (where BUILD plans to spend at least 30 percent of its funding). We have 10 weeks to work together to apply for BUILD funding in as many of our 450 communities as we can. Earlier this year, the Administration recommended zeroing out TIGER, so there is no guarantee we get another chance to benefit from the program at this level or even at all.
After an outstanding New England Bike-Walk Summit, I'm excited to focus on strong opportunities like this to BUILD the Greenway and connect millions more people to a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future.
Dennis
Dennis Markatos-Soriano, Executive Director
Learn more about BUILD grants and how to apply
Read more of our May 2018 On the Greenway newsletter
