The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded one Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant totaling $435,000 for additional preliminary engineering funds for a project to develop the S&S Greenway Trail in Bulloch County. TAP provides an opportunity for local governments to pursue non-traditional transportation related activities, and the Georgia DOT led call for projects is limited to areas of the state with population less than 200,000. Awarded funds consist of 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent local match.
In order to qualify for Georgia DOT’s call for TAP, projects must be in areas of the state with a population greater than 5,000, but less than 200,000 or in areas of the state with a population of less than 5,000 (two separate areas with a defined amount of funding available for each area) and at least one phase of the project must be ready for funding to be federally authorized in the current state fiscal year.
The five Transportation Management Areas (TMAs) in Georgia, areas with 200k+ population, conduct their own call for TAP projects.
As part of the application process, applicants must demonstrate the below:
- The project is financially feasible
- Capacity of providing required matching funds, completing the project and planning for its ongoing maintenance of required items
- The Local Public Agency must be adequately staffed and suitably equipped to undertake and satisfactorily complete the project
- The Local Public Agency must provide a full-time employee to be in responsible charge of the project
- The Local Public Agency must be Local Administered Project (LAP) certified by Georgia DOT according to Departmental policies and Federal Highway Administration Guidelines
- The LAP Manual and additional information and assistance regarding LAP Certification can be found at www.dot.ga.gov/PS/Local/LAP
Applications were received by July 31, 2021 and awards were announced the week of December 6, 2021.
For more information on TAP, please visit http://www.dot.ga.gov/IS/Funding/TAP.
