DOT

Partnership in the News: New TIGER grant will help complete Tampa Riverwalk

By ·

In the most recent round of TIGER grants announced last week, the City of Tampa, Florida will receive $11 million to finish its Riverwalk project. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the grant, awarded by U.S. DOT through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, will help fix two gaps in the walkway in a section of downtown Tampa where crashes between cars, cyclists and pedestrians are common. The 2.6-mile walkway along the Hillsborough River will also be connected to a 1.7-mile multi-use trail, which will create pedestrian and bike connections to bus and streetcar lines.

Uncategorized

Using complete streets to fight obesity in Jefferson County, AL

By ·

In 2007, over 100 organizations in Jefferson County, Alabama formed the Health Action Partnership, a collective effort aimed at making local neighborhoods healthier places to live, work, learn and play.

Reducing obesity was the Partnership’s main objectives from the outset, as Alabama’s obesity rate is the second highest in the nation. Recognizing that lifestyle change is critical in achieving this goal, the Partnership wanted to increase activity levels in the everyday lives of Jefferson County residents.

The organizations soon realized one answer to reducing obesity had been right beneath their feet all along: Complete Streets.

Making improvements to streets, sidewalks and paths would promote physical activity by making it safe and convenient for residents to walk outside for recreation, and would also makes it easier for them to incorporate functional walking and biking into their day-to-day lives.

Jefferson County’s streets are not currently friendly to pedestrians: most of the county’s sidewalks haven’t been updated in the past 50 years, and many are torn up or unsafe. Birmingham, the state’s largest city, also is just beginning to get back on its feet after a series of destructive tornadoes in 2011, which caused more than a billion dollars of property damage. Street safety is no minor problem, either: Alabama ranks fifth in the country for pedestrian deaths.

Since the Partnership came together, it has sought to leverage funding from a variety of sources to address local issues of public health and safety. One of the largest funding sources thus far has been a $13 million Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded in 2010. A portion of this grant is dedicated to fighting obesity in Jefferson County’s 35 municipalities.

Complete Streets

Partnership in the News: Ames Intermodal Facility creates transportation connections in Iowa

By ·

The Ames Intermodal Facility in Ames, Iowa, a transportation hub that will bring together parking, transit access, public and private transportation providers, and the Iowa State University and Ames communities, opened its doors last week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin as well as the mayor of Ames and the president of Iowa State.

Uncategorized

Spotlight on Sustainability: Denver, CO

By ·

In the areas of Denver surrounding the South Platte River, industrial buildings, coal-fired power plants, and blighted communities contrast with newer greenspace, trails, natural spaces and emerging mixed use developments. Over the past few decades, efforts at revitalization have made major progress in creating more walkable and recreational spaces, as well as cleaning up the river itself. But many of the surrounding neighborhoods and industrial areas are still disadvantaged, isolated, and underutilized. The City of Denver is now conducting a study to identify opportunities to spur economic development and revitalization in these communities.

Uncategorized

Building a modern streetcar and a stronger downtown in Tucson, AZ

By ·

What do Tucson, Seattle, Washington DC, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Sacramento, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles and Providence have in common? They are just a few of up to 40 communities across the country currently planning or building streetcar lines connecting neighborhoods to their downtowns.

Tuscon is the latest city to jump on the streetcar bandwagon. The city’s 3.9 mile, 196.6 million Sun Link streetcar project broke ground earlier this week, and once complete will offer direct, high-capacity transit connections between downtown Tucson, the University of Arizona and the Arizona Health Sciences Center. The project stems from a community partnership of diverse stakeholders, including Arizona’s Congressional delegation, the state’s Regional Transportation Authority, the University of Arizona, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, the city’s business community and neighborhood advocates who all worked together to make the streetcar project a reality.

Support for the project comes from a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). TIGER grants are part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaboration between DOT, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development which coordinates federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more prosperous, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money and reduce pollution.

Uncategorized

Senate subcommittee votes to restore funding to HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative

By ·

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development approved its FY 2013 spending bill, including a restoration of $50 million in funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Initiative.

The subcommittee voted 15-1 to approve the bill, which contains $53.4 billion for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending for FY 2013, a 3.5% decrease from current levels. During the markup, Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) emphasized the important role infrastructure investment plays in creating jobs and improving our economy.

“This legislation will create jobs and make critical investments in our nation’s roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, and airports. The bill also preserves an essential part of the country’s safety net by protecting housing assistance for low-income families and veterans,” Murray later said in a statement.

Uncategorized

Partnership in the News: Tucson's Sun Link Streetcar Project Kicks Off

By ·

The Arizona Daily Wildcat reported yesterday that the Sun Link streetcar project, which is funded by a Department of Transportation TIGER grant, formally broke ground yesterday in downtown Tucson. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild stated that Sun Link would benefit the city and create jobs by connecting businesses and the University of Arizona to downtown.

Uncategorized

Demand for TIGER grants shows national need for increased investment in infrastructure

By ·

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced yesterday that the demand for TIGER grants has yet again exceeded the available funding. Applications for TIGER 2012 grants totaled $10.2 billion, far more than the $500 million set aside for the program.The Department of Transportation received 703 applications from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C.

Uncategorized

Spotlight on Sustainability: Pittsburgh's Waterfronts

By ·

After facing a major economic downturn in the 1980s due to a drop in steel business demand and production, Pittsburgh is on the rebound, with city leaders looking to transform former industrial corridors into vibrant riverfront neighborhoods.

Today, the former “Steel City” is known as a growing hub for high-tech innovation, education and health care. Pittsburgh’s art scene, job prospects, safety and affordability recently earned it the title of “Most Livable City in America” by Forbes Magazine, and the city’s economic rebound has proven so successful that its story is serving as a model for other recession-hit cities.

Still, Pittsburgh’s comeback is not without obstacles, as many of the areas best suited for in-demand development were not originally envisioned as such, said Lena Andrews, senior planning specialist at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh’s riverfronts were used as transportation corridors for industrial production, and were characterized by factories, barges and pollution,” Andrews said. “While the environment has improved since then, the land surrounding them has remained relatively unchanged. The riverfronts were designed around industry rather than the community, and the land around them does not connect to our neighborhoods.”

Uncategorized

Partnership for Sustainable Communities 2012 Briefing materials now available

By ·

Thank you to everyone who attended SGA’s Sustainable Communities Network Partnership for Sustainable Communities Briefing on February 16th, 2012.

Smart Growth America hosted the senior leadership from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency on this briefing.

Click below to listen to Beth Osborne (DOT), Mariia Zimmerman (HUD), and Tim Torma (EPA) give updates on this year’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities grants and programs, talk about where the Partnership stands in the President’s fiscal year 2013 budget, and outline the work that each Partnership agency plans to do in the upcoming year.

Uncategorized
  • …
  • …