Transportation Alternatives

This page contains information about Tri-County’s Transportation Alternative (TA) Set-Aside allocation and current call for projects.

What are Transportation Alternatives funds?

The Transportation Alternatives (TA) funding program is a set-aside of the Surface Transportation Block Grant. Projects completed with these funds can be a variety of smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, recreational trails, Safe Routes to School projects, community improvements such as historic preservation and vegetation management, and environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity.

Call for Projects

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC) is accepting project submissions for Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, and 2023 Transportation Alternative (TA) Set-Aside from Wednesday, June 21, 2023 to Monday, July 31, 2023. Approximately $675,406 will be available for non-motorized transportation projects.

Project applications are due to staff by Monday, July 31, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. For more info, contact staff by email at funding@tricountyrpc.org or by phone at 309-673-9330.  

Application Materials

*Please download for full functionality. The application is a PDF with fillable forms and is best completed with Adobe Reader (free download) or Adobe Acrobat.

Eligible Projects and Activities

A project must demonstrate a relationship to surface transportation to be eligible for TA funding. Projects must enhance the transportation system either by serving a transportation need or providing a transportation use or benefit and not be solely for recreational use. Eligible activities include:

  • Construction, planning, and design of on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other nonmotorized forms of transportation
  • Construction, planning, and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that will provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs
  • Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, or other nonmotorized transportation users
  • Construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas
  • Community improvement activities, which include but are not limited to:
    • Inventory, control, or removal of outdoor advertising
    • Historic preservation and rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities
    • Vegetation management practices in transportation rights-of-way to improve roadway safety, prevent against invasive species, and provide erosion control
    • Archaeological activities relating to impacts from the implementation of a transportation project eligible under Title 23 of the United States Code
  • Any environmental mitigation activity, including pollution prevention and pollution abatement activities and mitigation to:
    • Address stormwater management, control, and water pollution prevention or abatement related to highway construction or due to highway runoff
    • Reduce vehicle-caused wildlife mortality or to restore and maintain connectivity among terrestrial or aquatic habitats
  • The recreational trails program under 23 USC 206
  • The safe routes to school program under §1404 of SAFETEA–LU
  • Planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former Interstate System routes or other divided highways

Statutory History of TA

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012, established the Transportation Alternative Program, most commonly known as TAP. TAP provided funding for an array of alternative transportation projects, including many that were previously eligible under separately funded programs like Transportation Enhancements, Recreational Trails, and Safe Routes to School. 

The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, signed into law by President Obama on December 4, 2015, eliminated the MAP-21 TAP and replaced it with a set aside of Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program funding for transportation alternatives. These transportation alternatives set-aside funds include all projects and activities previously eligible under TAP. These allowable activities encompass a variety of smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, recreational trails, safe routes to school projects, community improvements such as historic preservation and vegetation management, and environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL, was signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. The IIJA continues the Transportation Alternatives set aside from the STBG program. Additionally, the IIJA adds new eligibility for activities in furtherance of a vulnerable road user safety assessment. 

X
Skip to content