 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Adminstration |
Memorandum | ||
| HEPI-0307-lz50-0001 | |||
Subject: |
Information: Delta Region Transportation Development Program Request for FY 2007 Grant Applications (Electronic Reply Due: April 30, 2007) | Date: | March 28, 2007 |
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From: |
Gloria M. Shepherd Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment and Realty |
In Reply Refer To: | HEPI-20 |
To: |
See Addresses | ||
Section 1308 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users provides funding for the Delta Region Transportation Development Program (DRTDP). For Fiscal Year 2007, Public Law 110-5, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, did not earmark funding for the DRTDP.
By this notice, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is amending and supplementing its original notice of January 19, 2007, and re-soliciting applications for the DRTDP for FY 2007. The FHWA is focusing on projects which, in addition to meeting statutory criteria of the DRTDP, provide substantial benefits relating to highway safety or congestion relief. These safety and congestion benefits are the types of benefits that the General Accountability Office recommended be assessed in making discretionary grant awards in an earlier report discussing the FHWA discretionary grant process.
The FHWA invites applications of larger-scale projects that provide strategic safety and congestion benefits under the DRTDP.
As you know, highway safety has been an increasing focus and priority for FHWA over the recent past. Targeting discretionary funding like DRTDP funds within the Delta Region, in a results-oriented comprehensive approach to safety is a means of directing limited discretionary funding to those projects that will yield tangible transportation and safety benefits. With respect to safety, applicants should describe the safety benefits associated with the DRTDP project or activity for which funding is sought, including whether the project, activity, or improvement:
Will result in a measurable reduction in the loss of property, injury, or life;
Incorporates innovative safety design or operational techniques, including variable pricing for congestion reduction, electronic tolling, barrier systems, and intersection-related enhancements;
Incorporates innovative construction work zone strategies to improve safety;
Is located on a rural road that is in need of priority attention based on analysis of safety experience; and/or
Is located in an urban area of high injury or fatality, and is an initiative to improve the design, operation or other aspect of the existing facility that will result in a measurable safety improvement.
Increasing mobility by reducing congestion has also been a priority for FHWA over the past few years. The application of discretionary funding to improve mobility and reduce congestion will yield tangible transportation and economic benefits that should far exceed the limited amount of discretionary funding provided to the project.
In furtherance of measuring the congestion reduction and mobility benefits associated with a project that qualifies for funding under the DRTDP, within the application, the applicant should describe how the DRTDP project, activity or improvement:
Relieves congestion in an urban area or along a major transportation corridor;
Employs operational and technological improvements that promote safety and congestion relief; and/or
Addresses major freight bottlenecks.
For FY 2007, approximately $9 million is available for obligation for DRTDP projects. The candidate projects must meet the eligibility criteria for the DRTDP and will be evaluated on the selection criteria established for the DRTDP and the safety and congestion criteria set forth above and in the Federal Register Notice of Funds Availability of March 22, 2007. These criteria are listed in Attachment 1.
Please ensure that the attached DRTDP grant application submitted by your State transportation department is for a project or projects that are ready to advance, and for which the funds should be able to be obligated in FY 2007, should the requested DRTDP funding be provided.
The applications must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format (see Attachment 2). Project applications should be received in Headquarters no later than April 30, 2007. Late filed applications may only be considered to the extent practical. When submitting the State's project applications, the division office shall transmit them via email to the attention of Gary Jensen at Gary.Jensen@dot.gov. Your email transmittal should include:
A statement from the division office that the State's submittal has been reviewed by the division office and that it meets the submission requirements;
The State transportation department's submission email or letter to the FHWA division office; and
Each Microsoft Word application as an attachment.
Information on the DRTDP is included as Attachment 1 to this memorandum. This contains background information on the program including eligibility and selection criteria, as well as the submission requirements. This solicitation memorandum will also be posted on our FHWA website at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/index.htm.
If there are any questions, please contact Gary Jensen at 202-366-2048 or email to Gary.Jensen@dot.gov.
Attachment 2 | Attachment 2 MS Word format (29 KB)
Addressees:
Division Administrators for:
HDA-Alabama
HDA-Arkansas
HDA-Illinois
HDA-Kentucky
HDA-Louisiana
HDA-Mississippi
HDA-Missouri
HDA-Tennessee
