The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) approved approximately $2.9 million in federal funding for transportation projects in the District of Columbia for Fiscal Year 2025 and 2026. The funding is provided through the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program (TAP), established by federal law to fund a variety of smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, trails, safe routes to school (SRTS), community improvements, historic preservation, and environmental mitigation.

Much of the funding allocated through this round of the TAP will support the rehabilitation of the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) in the District of Columbia, a significant portion of the TPB’s 1,500-mile National Capital Trail Network. The project provides a key link between the CCT and the C&O Canal Trail, building upon previous work through the TPB to improve key access points, enhance user safety, increase environmental sustainability, and encourage future use of trails and shared-use paths in the region.

The CCT has not undergone any significant repairs or construction since it was first built in 1994. In 2021, the TPB awarded TAP funding for design, planning, and environmental compliance for rehabilitation of the CCT. This latest funding now moves the project into construction.

Projects were selected for funding based on regional criteria rooted in the TPB’s policies and programs, with an emphasis on roadway safety, expansion of transportation options, support for regional Activity Centers, access to high-capacity transit, increased access for low-income communities, people of color, and individuals with disabilities, and increased access to schools.

The funded projects include:

• Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) Rehabilitation Phase II (Construction), $2,139,574
• Repaving the Anacostia Trail East Bank (Design), $58,443
• Green Infrastructure Pilot Project Part 2 (Construction), $90,183
• Joyce Road and Beach Drive (Design), $ 663,000

The Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program is part of the Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program. The TPB is responsible for selecting projects in the region using portions of each state’s TA Set-Aside funding.

MORE: Presentation to the TPB on the 2025 DC Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program