The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) approved approximately $3.2 million in federal funding for six non-highway transportation projects in suburban Maryland.
The projects will be funded by the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA Set-Aside) Program, which funds small-scale projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, trails, safe routes to school (SRTS) projects, and other community improvements.
Funded projects include:
- La Plata Bikeway: Radio Station Road Sidepath – $1.4 million
This project will construct a continuous 10-foot-wide buffered bikeway/shared-use path for 2.25 miles, connecting schools, neighborhoods, and a variety of recreational and natural areas in the east of downtown La Plata, Charles County.
- Forest Glen Road Sidewalk – $679,000
This project will complete 100% design for a six-feet wide concrete sidewalk for half mile along the north side of Forest Glen Road from Woodland Drive to Sligo Creek Parkway, as well as designing a separated bike lane on the south side of the street with a connection to Sligo Creek Trail in Montgomery County, a segment of the National Capital Trail Network.
- New Design Road Sidepath Phase 2 – $480,000
This project is a key segment of the National Capital Trial Network and expands the network with a 3.2-mile trail segment between Greenfield Road and Manor Woods Road. This is the second of three phases for a side path along New Design Road, which eventually will tie Frederick City with the C&O Canal National Park.
- Industrial Drive Path Connection – $400,000
This project will create designs for a bike/ped connection across a major expressway —I -370 — and it will connect the City of Gaithersburg with Montgomery County’s wider trail system and to three regional Activity Centers.
- Fleet and Monroe Complete Streets – $224,000
The grant will fund construction-ready design plans to convert Fleet and Monroe to “complete streets” with a separated bike/shared-use facility, as well as new signals and bus stops in the City of Rockville.
- Brunswick Comfort Station – $60,000
This grant will fund the design of a modern trailhead amenity for users of the C&O Canal National Park, as well as MARC train commuters, and other area visitors in the City of Brunswick.
The projects support key TPB priorities such as prioritizing Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs) or locations with high concentrations of traditionally underserved communities, and providing access to the National Capital Trail Network, a 1,400-mile system of trails that will connect the entire region when completed. These projects also support the vision for equitable, sustainable, transit-oriented communities outlined in COG’s Region United: Metropolitan Washington Planning Framework for 2030.
The TA Set-Aside Program is part of the Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program. The TPB administers the program as a component of its Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program.
MORE: About the TA Set Aside Program