In February of this year, the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC) served as the lead applicant for a RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant requesting funds to develop a bi-region plan for a major transportation corridor located in south-central Virginia.
Earlier this year, Franklin County staff approached the WPPDC to seek information about grant opportunities to update a corridor plan for Route 122, which links the Town of Rocky Mount and points south and west to the Smith Mountain lake community and beyond. It was determined that a federal RAISE grant would be the best option for updating the Smith Mountain Lake Corridors Study, adopted in March 2010. In the discussions related to this grant application, Franklin County suggested including neighboring Bedford County as a joint applicant, as Route 122 also serves much of that County, linking the Smith Mountain Lake community with the Town of Bedford. In addition, Bedford County published a corridor plan in 2003, which is due for an update as well. It was determined that, in addition to the two counties and the WPPDC, a joint application would also involve the Central Virginia Planning District Commission (CVPDC), as Bedford County falls within the jurisdiction of that planning district.
And the end of January, WPPDC staff participated in a conference call with staff of Franklin County, Bedford County, and the CVPDC to discuss the feasibility of a bi-regional grant application, the geographical extent of a grant-funded study, and the identification of a lead applicant – in other words, the agency responsible for submitting the application. It was decided that the WPPDC would serve the role of lead applicant, while Franklin and Bedford Counties, along with the CVPDC, would serve as joint applicants. Taking into consideration the influence of the growing Smith Mountain Lake community on both counties, a determination was made for a Route 122 corridor study area to extend approximately 24 miles from the intersection with Wirtz Road (Route 697) in Franklin County to Joppa Mill Road (Route 747) in Bedford County; the Smith Mountain Lake community would be the general mid-point of the study area. The image below, entitled “Route 122 Study Area” illustrates the study area.
Unlike grant opportunities in the past that focused resources almost exclusively for the benefit of automobiles and movement of vehicular traffic, a condition of RAISE grant funding is that any improvements must include not only benefits to automobile travel, but must include a multi-faceted assortment of investments. According to the Fiscal Year 2023 RAISE Notice of Funding Opportunity, the RAISE program is intended for:
[S]urface transportation infrastructure projects that will improve: safety; environmental sustainability; qualify of life; mobility and community connectivity; economic competitiveness including tourism; state of good repair; partnership and collaboration; and innovation.[1]
RAISE features two types of grant opportunities: planning grants and capital grants. The grant submitted to request funding for the development of a Route 122 corridor study is a planning grant. Capital grants, on the other hand, consist of funding to implement actual projects that had been recommended in a plan.
RAISE grants consist of eight “merit criteria” that must be addressed, to one degree or another, depending on the type of grant applied for. Merit criteria could be considered the heart of the application, as they comprise the main elements that must be addressed by the grant. The merit criteria that were addressed by this grant application, and which comprise the RAISE grant, in general, include the following:
- Safety
- Environmental Sustainability
- Quality of Life
- Mobility and Community Connectivity
- Economic Competitiveness and Opportunity
- State of Good Repair
- Partnership and Collaboration
- Innovation
Given the requirements of the RAISE grant and the variation of the built environment surrounding the Route 122 corridor, this application included consideration of a multi-faceted approach to corridor enhancement, and included the following major facets:
- Address roadway safety and functionality by recommending improvements to upgrade the corridor to current VDOT standards, implement spot improvements such as intersection turn lanes, and implement general geometric improvements to the corridor.
- Consider Complete Streets features such as sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, and multi-use paths, concentrated particularly in the activity centers along the corridor such as the Westlake area, Burnt Chimney, and Moneta.
- Develop recommendations for transportation connectivity, which would include greater connectivity among and between proximate land uses, more direct travel routes between destinations, and development and enhancement of parallel routes along the corridor, all with the goal of reducing travel on the corridor itself.
- A land use component would be recommended, which would more effectively integrate transportation with land use; promote Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND), which represents the design concept of mixed, clustered uses common in communities prior to World War II; and mixed housing types to accommodate a multitude of tastes and budgets.
- Explore and recommend elements of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) such as identifying locations to develop park and ride facilities with electric vehicle (EV) charging stations; a possible shuttle service to an Amtrak stop; and opportunities for mobility-on-demand such as bike share, and/or scooter share systems, and a corridor-wide microtransit system.
- The consideration of a parallel bike trail, separated bike lanes, or a combination of the two, spanning the entire corridor to promote tourism as well as to facilitate alternative modes of transportation.
The WPPDC will be informed by the end of June as to whether the grant for the Route 122 corridor plan for Franklin and Bedford Counties will be funded.
[1] “FY 2023 RAISE Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity,” as cited in 49 U.S.C. 6702 (d) (3). U.S. Department of Transportation. Amd. February 3, 2023. Pg. 1. https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants/raise-nofo.