On January 11, 1999, CDTC sent letters to local
communities and other potential applicants under New York State's first round
of the TEA-21 Transportation Enhancements Program. Applications were due to NYSDOT by July 1, 1999. CDTC evaluated all applications within
CDTC's TIP area and identified a short list of high priority projects, which
NYSDOT compared with submissions from across the state in selecting projects
for funding. Two CDTC area proposals
were selected for Enhancements Program funding: the City of Albany's Waterfront
Intermodal Enhancement project (A415), and the City of Troy's Pedestrian and
Bicycle Trail project (R223). These
projects were added to the TIP by amendment at the CDTC Planning Committee's
September 6, 2000 meeting. CDTC's evaluation procedure for these projects is in
Appendix J.
CDTC's commitment to bicycle, pedestrian, and canal projects goes beyond the federal Enhancement funds. At its May 27, 1999 meeting, the CDTC Policy Committee voted to endorse the 1999-04 Transportation Improvement Program, which included as project RG83 a "second chance" program setting aside $1 million of STP-Flex funds for "high priority" Transportation Enhancements Program candidates not funded in Round One of the TEP. Following the March 21, 2000 announcement of statewide selection of projects for Round One of the Transportation Enhancements Program, CDTC recanvassed the responsible agencies for the highest-ranked unsuccessful candidates to inquire as to whether they wished to submit their proposals for consideration under the CDTC program. As the average total cost of initial proposals was over $850,000, and in the interest of getting as many strong projects implemented as possible, this recanvass included the requirement that candidates for the "Second Chance" program reflected a minimum 50 percent local match and/or a cap of $200,000 on the federal fund share of project cost. Three additional proposals were selected for funding as a result of this process: the City of Saratoga Springs' Spring Run Trail project (SA181), which was reduced in scope from the original proposal; Schenectady County's Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail project (S156), for which the local match was increased to 50%; and the Town of Malta's Ruhle Road Bridge project (SA182), which was not modified from the original proposal.
CDTC also set aside additional funds in the 1997 TIP
for bicycle, pedestrian, and canal projects.
The intention is to administer these projects as if they were
Enhancement Program projects. The
significance of this is two-fold:
1.
The
Enhancement program was administered as a grant program. The federal contribution is fixed at the
time of project programming at a maximum of 80% of project cost. Any
cost increases above 80% of the original project cost estimate are the
responsibility of the project sponsor to absorb. Any cost decreases cannot have the effect of increasing the
federal share above 80%.
2.
An
agreement is negotiated with the project sponsor for project
implementation. The project sponsor is
the lead agency and builds the project on a reimbursement basis.
Since the original set of enhancement-type projects,
others have been added. In some cases,
the local match exceeds 20%. The TIP
includes a notation on the projects in Table 2 that they will be administered
as Enhancement projects (regardless of federal funding source) and that the
federal contribution is capped at the specified percentage of the original
total cost estimate.
Table 2
ENHANCEMENT Projects Funded With Flexible Funds
TIP#/PIN |
SPONSOR |
PROJECT |
A347/1754.50 |
Colonie (V) |
Sidewalks and bike
circulation |
A376/1754.60 |
Albany (City) |
Waterfront Pedestrian
Bridge |
A377/1754.67 |
Voorheesville |
Pedestrian Circulation |
A406/1755.61 |
Albany (County) |
Albany County Sign
Management |
A407/1755.62 |
Albany (City) |
City of Albany Sign
Management |
A415 |
Albany (City) |
City of Albany Waterfront
Intermodal Enhancements |
R178/1754.52 |
Troy |
Troy-Menands Bridge
Bicycle Access |
R197/1754.69 |
Rensselaer |
Washington Avenue
Sidewalks |
R198/1754.70 |
North Greenbush |
Brooking, Peck and
Pershing Sidewalks |
R223 |
Troy |
Troy Pedestrian Bicycle
Trail |
SA135/1754.56 |
Halfmoon |
Sitterly and Woodin bike
path |
SA136/1754.57 |
Saratoga Springs |
Downtown Pedestrian
Improvements |
SA140 |
Canal Corporation |
Erie Canal Lock 2
Rehabilitation |
SA156/1941.05 |
Canal Corporation |
Mechanicville Terminal
Wall |
SA158/1754.71 |
NYSOPRHP |
Peebles Island Bridge
(Waterford) |
SA181/1755.93 |
Saratoga Springs |
Spring Run Trail
Construction |
SA182 |
Town of Malta |
Ruhle Road Pedestrian
Bridge |
S140/1754.63 |
Schenectady (City) |
Mohawk-Hudson Bikepath
Improvements |
S141/1754.65 |
Schenectady (City) |
Rail corridor bridge
improvements |
S142/1754.64 |
Schenectady (City) |
Kings Road sidewalks |
S143/1754.66 |
Glenville |
Lock 8 Bicycle and
Pedestrian Access |
S156 |
Schenectady County |
Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike
Trail Connector |