Asheville lands $14.6 million federal grant to fund roadway improvements

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Ashvegas: The City You Love. The News You Want.Press release here:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was in Asheville (last week) to announce a $14.6 million TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant for the Asheville East of the Riverway Multimodal Network Project that will connect people in different neighborhoods to centers of employment, education and services, and enhance economic competiveness. The project is one of 72 federally-funded transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia that will receive a total of approximately $600 million from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) 2014 discretionary grant program.

“As uncertainty about the future of long-term federal funding continues, this round of TIGER will be a shot in the arm for local economies,” said Secretary Foxx. “We’re building bridges from Maine to Mississippi, investing in transit, road and rail projects from Los Angeles to Detroit to New York City. For every project we select, however, we must turn dozens more away – projects that could be getting done if Congress passed the GROW AMERICA Act, which would double the funding available for TIGER and growing the number of projects we could support.”

The Asheville project will complete an interconnected six-mile network of pedestrian, bicycle, roadway, and streetscape improvements. The project includes intersection work that will improve traffic flow, improve intersection geometry for truck movements and safety in the corridor. Other elements include four key bicycle and pedestrian facilities that complete an on-road and off-road system connecting neighborhoods to the commercial centers of the area. These improvements will connect low and moderate income neighborhoods with jobs, neighborhood services and community assets in Asheville’s rapidly developing riverfront area.

“With the help of TIGER, Asheville residents and visitors will soon have even greater access to their community with the ability to bike and walk the city’s streets more safely and securely than before, including the roads near the French Broad River and in the Southside neighborhood,” said Secretary Foxx.

The GROW AMERICA Act, the administration’s surface transportation reauthorization proposal, would authorize $5 billion over four years for much-needed additional TIGER funding to help meet the overwhelming demand for significant infrastructure investments around the country and provide the certainty that states and local governments need to properly plan for investment. The $302 billion, four-year transportation reauthorization proposal would provide increased and stable funding for the nation’s highways, bridges, transit and rail systems without contributing to the deficit. The GROW AMERICA Act also includes several critical program reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal highway, rail and transit programs.

The Department received 797 eligible applications from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, an increase from the 585 applications received in 2013. Overall, applicants requested 15 times the $600 million available for the program, or $9.5 billion for needed transportation projects.

Since 2009, the TIGER program has provided nearly $4.1 billion to 342 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Demand for the program has been overwhelming, and during the previous five rounds, the Department of Transportation received more than 6,000 applications requesting more than $124 billion for transportation projects across the country. Congress provided the most recent funding as part of the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, signed by President Obama on January 17, 2014.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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5 Comments

  1. dr fuzz September 14, 2014

    put a sidewalk/bike lane on Johnston rd.
    I see kids and people walking in the road all the time. its very dangerous.
    Sidewalks would also encourage more pedestrians to access Haywood road via feet than smog machines.

    Reply
  2. AVL LVR September 13, 2014

    Obama wants to fix up the town before he moves here.

    Reply
    1. theOtherBarry September 13, 2014

      Ooh who coulda seen that one coming?

      Benghazi.

      Reply
      1. AVL LVR September 14, 2014

        Now we know he is moving to the RAD. If 12 Bones Smokehouse there wasn’t a clue, this is a confirmation. True the president is not an artist, but he is truly a con-artist.

        Reply
        1. theOtherBarry September 14, 2014

          Right – now we know why Tim Moffitt is running ads that look like he is running against Obama instead of Brian Turner. Boogeyman! Benghazi!

          It’s not possible that Asheville got this grant because it was a well-presented proposal for a worthy project in a fast-growing and popular city.

          Obama!

          Boogah!

          Reply

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