Record $50 million in federal RAISE funding to East Coast Greenway projects

DURHAM, North Carolina - Backed by the support of the nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance, a record total of more than $50 million in federal funding from the United States Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grant program was awarded to projects along the East Coast Greenway, a developing 3,000-mile bicycle and pedestrian route stretching from Maine to Florida.

Four projects supported by Alliance staff members in conjunction with state and local partners were awarded funding. 

The East Coast Greenway projects announced as receiving RAISE funding included:

• $25 million in Massachusetts: Lynnway Multi-modal Project

• $16 million in Connecticut: Plainville gap of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

• $7.25 million in New York: Filling the Gaps: New York City's Greenway Expansion Plan

• $2 million in North Carolina: Elizabeth City Weeksville Road Accessibility and Connectivity Plan

“These East Coast Greenway RAISE grant recipients, coupled with federal earmarks awarded this spring and dramatic funding increases at the state level in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia and beyond, will help complete our transformational project, which links 450 communities across 15 states and Washington, D.C.,” said East Coast Greenway Alliance Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano.

“This record-setting commitment from the U.S. Department of Transportation is another step toward reaching our goal of developing a network of accessible and equitable greenways for all.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the “RAISE Discretionary Grant program provides a unique opportunity for the DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives.”

With the aim of helping more communities access this increased funding, East Coast Greenway Alliance field staff members assisted local partners by adding capacity and technical assistance to apply for RAISE grants ahead of an April 2022 deadline. 

“We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America’s transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible, and more sustainable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this year we are supporting more projects than ever before.”

Click for full details on the projects funded, as well as a map of the grant recipients.