RICHMOND – The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) awarded $17.2 million in enhancement grants during its meeting in Richmond yesterday as part of the Transportation Enhancement Program. The funding will support approximately 85 projects throughout the state such as biking and hiking trails, crosswalks, pedestrian walkways, sidewalks and streetscaping.

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) provides federal funding for community-based projects that integrate transportation into communities. In accordance with SAFETEA-LU requirements, each state must set aside 10 percent of its federal Surface Transportation Program funds for enhancement projects. Each year, the CTB awards this funding to selected projects based on a competitive process.

To qualify for federal funding, projects must be one of 12 designated enhancement activities:

• bicycle and pedestrian facilities
• bicycle and pedestrian safety and education
• acquisition of scenic or historic easements and sites including historic battlefields
• scenic or historic highway programs including tourist and welcome centers
• landscaping and scenic beautification
• historic preservation
• rehabilitation and operation of historic transportation buildings, structures, or facilities
• preservation of abandoned railway corridors, including the conversion and use of the corridors for pedestrian or bicycle trails
• inventory, control and removal of outdoor advertising
• archaeological planning and research
• environmental mitigation
• establishment of transportation museums

The following Richmond area projects received part of the 2007 enhancement funding:

1. Village of Montpelier (Hanover) – Received $62,000 toward landscaping improvements along Mountain Road and installation of kiosks and interpretive signs.
2. City of Colonial Heights – Received $50,000 toward landscaping and scenic improvements along the Route 1/301 corridor.
3. City of Petersburg – Received $100,000 toward construction of the Appomattox River Trail.
4. City of Richmond – Received $76,000 toward construction of brick paver crosswalks on Belvidere Street at Leigh, Clay, Cary and Canal streets.
5. City of Richmond – Received $48,000 toward construction of a 1,360 foot walkway at Brown’s Island.
6. City of Richmond – Received $60,000 toward rehabilitation of the historic Hull Street Passenger Station for use as the Old Dominion Railway Museum.
7. Town of Blackstone – Received $266,000 toward construction of a facility to serve as a transportation museum as part of the Robert Thomas Carriage Museum.
8. Town of Brodnax – Received $71,000 toward streetscaping.
9. Town of Clarksville – Received $156,000 toward downtown streetscaping.
10. Town of Lawrenceville – Received $139,000 toward construction of a section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail.
11. Town of South Hill – Received $260,000 toward downtown streetscaping.

More information on the Transportation Enhancement Program, application guidelines and to view the 2007 Final Enhancement Allocations list.

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Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.

Page last modified: Jan. 18, 2008