Federal government taking applications for Reconnecting Communities grant

There has been an infusion of funding for transportation projects from the federal government in the last few years with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021. That legislation signed by President Biden is also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

One related funding opportunity that comes from the Federal Highway Administration is called Reconnecting Communities and the idea is “to help revitalize and reconnect communities cut off from opportunity by past transportation infrastructure decisions.” 

Albemarle County has twice applied for funding through this program for a study of how to abate the effects of an eight-lane highway that cuts through Albemarle County’s growth area. That is the outcome of a long history of competing sides on whether to build a bypass to carry vehicles around the commercial area. 

So far, Albemarle has so far not been among the 176 communities across the nation that have received a total of $3.3 billion in funding. The county asked for $300,000 for a planning grant and had the support of the City of Charlottesville. (read my story)

In the second round, the program received a total of $11.6 billion in requests from 682 applications. Ninety-seven percent of the awards went to projects in communities considered to be disadvantaged. Successful projects appear to be in cities where highways replaced intact communities. 

“Due to prejudicial housing practices of the time, the communities that received the brunt of these decisions were often African American,” reads a StoryMap produced as part of the program. “Thousands of families were forcibly displaced, many without proper compensation, to erect loud, dangerous concrete barriers in the middle of neighborhoods.”

For instance, the city of Atlanta has been awarded over $157.6 million to complete the first phase of a project called the Stitch. That’s will replace sections of I-75 and I-85 with a four-acre park, rehabilitation of a transit station, and local street improvements. (learn more)

“These improvements will reconnect the street grid of Downtown Atlanta, which was disrupted by the construction of the interstates in the 1960s,” the StoryMap continues. 

There is about $600 million in funding for the third round with $457 million for capital construction and $150 million available in planning grants.

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the July 10, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.