The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, in collaboration with Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), created three pilot projects across the state to determine ways to reduce the burden of the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant process. These projects are providing support to communities that will streamline the application process, promote robust community engagement, and ultimately increase the number of successful grant applications submitted for construction.
PEA Group and The Greenway Collaborative are conducting the largest of the pilot projects, establishing approximately 85 miles of pathway to connect the Lansing River Trail to the Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Rail Trail, the Paul Henry – Thornapple Trail, and Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park. Our team has conducted an in-depth investigation of each route, including site visits, studying GIS data and ROW maps, and speaking with several groups of local stakeholders, including: county officials, the 18 communities the routes traverse, Consumers Energy, A&B Railroad, and several non-profit organizations. The public input process is now underway, including six public workshops and an online survey for people to share their thoughts. Once this is completed, PEA Group will apply its landscape architecture and civil engineering efforts to develop preliminary engineering drawings and an implementation plan. The routes will be broken into phases with corresponding cost opinions, and selected TAP-eligible segments will be submitted for funding.
The project will conclude with the development of a lessons learned report for MDOT to explore opportunities to make the TAP grant more accessible to rural communities.
