U.S. DOT awards $20.5 million to Indianapolis Cultural Trail

Last month, Congressman Andre Carson (see photo), Mayor Gregory Ballard and CICF President Brian Payne announced a $20.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The funding came from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
With $1.5 billion to invest across the U.S., it sought projects that fit the following criteria:

Primary Selection Criteria:
• State of Good Repair -- projects that will have a significant impact for the nation, a metro area, or region... and improve the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems.
• Economic Competitiveness -- projects that contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness.
• Livability -- projects that improve the quality of living and working environments and the experience for people in communities across the U.S.
• Sustainability -- projects that improve energy efficiency, reducing dependence on oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefiting the environment.
• Safety -- projects that improve the safety of U.S. transportation facilities and systems.
• Job Creation & Economic Stimulus -- projects that quickly create and preserve jobs and stimulate rapid increases in economic activity.

Secondary Selection Criteria:
• Innovation -- projects that use innovative strategies to pursue the long-term outcomes.
• Partnership -- projects that demonstrate strong collaboration among a broad range of participants and/or integration of transportation with other public service efforts.

USDOT reported receiving 1,400 applications totaling $57 billion.

Read the full release on our Web site.

See all TIGER projects awarded. The Cultural Trail is under the Central section, slide 13, "Indianapolis Bicycle and Pedestrian Network."

View the video submitted with the grant application. (Thanks to WFYI.)

There isn't enough room to thank all the people who have made and continue to make this project possible. We especially thank Congressman Carson and his staff; Mayor Ballard and his Office of Sustainability and Department for Public Works; our team at R.W. Armstrong, Rundell Ernstberger Associates, Art Strategies and The Goods.

Thank you to ALL donors who believe in this project. Your investment showed the federal government how committed Indy is to the Cultural Trail and to these types of projects.

To our future donors: We still need you. Maintaining this beautiful trail will take significant investment. Thanks to this grant, your gifts can support the trail's long term maintenance. We also still plan to commit $1 million to a bike and shuttle bus program that will provide additional alternatives for getting to and from the Cultural Districts.