Buffalo officials are looking for more federal funding to return cars to parts of Main Street, months after an earlier bid for aid failed.
The city on May 18 applied for a $24.5 million federal transportation grant, under the BUILD program, to fund the next round of Cars Sharing Main Street.
That's the yearslong effort to reverse the 1980s conversion of Main into a failed pedestrian mall by reconstructing the street from Tupper Street to Canalside, so that cars and Metro Rail trains can both operate on the roadway. The goal is to restore and revive activity along Main by enabling drivers to get to stores, apartments and other businesses located in buildings along the street.
The highly competitive federal grant program – Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development – has been used successfully by the city to pay for significant portions of the previous rounds of work on Main Street. So far, cars have returned to the sections of Main from Tupper south to Mohawk Street, while crews are now at work on the $22.5 million phase of Lower Main Street from Scott to Exchange streets.
The city has previously won over $30 million in funding from the BUILD and the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant programs. In all, more than $43.3 million of the $64.5 million that has been spent to date on Cars Sharing Main has come from federal investments.
Work is continuing on the southwest corner of Main and Scott streets, with the laying of trackbed panels, as well as electrical work, said Debra Chernoff, manager of planning at Buffalo Place. The other side of the street is finished, with plans to plant trees next year, and the entire phase slated to finish by the end of 2021, pending completion of work at the DL&W Terminal.
But there's another $95.4 million worth of construction still to go, according to Buffalo Place.
The next $37.5 million round focuses on the portion of Main from Church to Exchange streets, including the area under the Seneca One tower.
That was the subject of the latest BUILD application. A prior application failed to win any funding last November, disappointing and worrying city officials who were counting on the grant to keep the initiative moving.
That led to the innovative arrangement between the city, Jemal and M&T, in which Jemal agreed to funnel more than $15 million in property tax payments into a new Accelerator Fund, through a special payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement through the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.
That fund, which also will receive investments from M&T and other businesses, will support city-approved infrastructure projects and public streetscape improvements within what's being called the "Buffalo Infrastructure Accelerator District." That's the area bordered by Huron Street, Elmwood Avenue, Ellicott Street and Canalside.
The ECIDA will set up and manage the fund for the city. The PILOT payments would begin in the 2021-2022 tax year and run through 2045-2046. Jemal would also pay full county property taxes during the same period.
Buffalo misses out on $25M federal grant for Cars Sharing Main Street
Obtaining a new BUILD grant, if successful, would supplement that funding.
"Hopefully, it's a stronger application than last year, because we need to continue to finish that project," Buffalo Place Chairman Keith Belanger said.
"try" - Google News
May 29, 2020 at 05:00PM
https://ift.tt/2zGTJFl
Try, try again: City seeks more federal aid to return cars to Main Street - Buffalo News
"try" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3b52l6K
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Try, try again: City seeks more federal aid to return cars to Main Street - Buffalo News"
Post a Comment