On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD), which is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) responsible for coordinating the federally-mandated transportation planning process for the Jackson Metropolitan Area, announced they are accepting applications for the next round of Transportation Alternative (TA) funding available through the MPO.
The TA program is a federal-aid transportation program which provides funding to municipalities and counties for transportation alternatives projects such as multi-use paths and bike lanes. The available funding for TA projects is being provided through the 2015 Federal transportation legislation, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
Project applications for TA funding are due to the CMPDD no later than November 15, 2017. Once received, the applications will be reviewed and graded based upon the project evaluation criteria approved by the MPO Policy Committee. Priority will be given to projects identified in the MPO’s 2040 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The MPO Policy Committee anticipates announcing funding awards for the projects ranked the highest during the application evaluation process in February, 2018. The MPO Policy Committee is comprised of both elected and appointed officials from the three-county urbanized area. Eligible applicants for TA funding through the MPO include: Bolton, Brandon, Byram, Canton, Clinton, Florence, Flora, Flowood, Jackson, Madison, Pearl, Pelahatchie, Raymond, Richland, Ridgeland, and Terry, as well as Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties.
Local jurisdictions with applications selected for funding can receive up to 80% in Federal TA funding for construction costs of a project. Local jurisdictions are required to provide at a minimum 20% in local matching funds. The MPO’s last call for TA applications took place in 2013 and resulted in four (4) projects in the metro area receiving $941,000 in TA funding.
For more information about the Jackson MPO please visit www.cmpdd.org.
