State Senator Andy Dinniman announced last week that Downingtown Borough will receive $916,600 in federal funding to install a new trail and sidewalks.
The Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant will be used to install a 10-foot-wide multi-use trail along Woodbine Avenue and 6-foot-wide sidewalk along a portion of Lincoln Highway.
These funds come in addition to the $235,000 in state funding that the borough was awarded in December for the Woodbine Road Multi-Use Trail. That funding came through Act 89 of 2013, Pennsylvania’s Comprehensive Transportation Funding Plan. The project calls for the installation of streetscapes and a walking and biking trail along Woodbine Road to serve residents and pedestrians and
“This funding is another major boost for a project that will make Downingtown more walkable and add to the community’s already-popular and growing trail system,” Dinniman said.
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, the 2012 federal transportation authorization act known as MAP-21, introduced fundamental changes to the administration of local programs, including those that had existed as separate programs in SAFETEA-LU, the previous authorization act. Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, Scenic Byways and the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) are now consolidated into the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)
PennDOT evaluated the applications and made selections based on such criteria as safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders, and leverage of other projects or funding.
For more information, call Senator Dinniman’s office at 610-692-2112 or e-mail acirucci@pasenate.com.
