Title
Authorizing the Departments of Parks and Recreation and Public Works to apply for a Federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER IX) Discretionary Grant.
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WHEREAS, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 appropriated $500 million to the US Department of Transportation for National Infrastructure Investments, referred to over the program’s eight year history as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grants; and
WHEREAS, the grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region; and
WHEREAS, the grants will be awarded to support major capital infrastructure investments for highways and bridges (including bicycle and pedestrian related projects), public transportation, passenger and freight rail, ports and intermodal facilities; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has reviewed the qualifying and ranking criteria and determined that substantial completion of the Grand Round is an eligible project; and
WHEREAS, if successful, the grant would support construction of bicycle and pedestrian facilities along most of the northern half of the Saint Paul Grand Round as was envisioned by H.W.S. Cleveland in the 1880s, matching the facilities developed along the Mississippi River that constitute the southern half; and
WHEREAS, the completion of the Grand Round would connect East Side and North End neighborhoods with employment centers in the downtown, along neighborhood commercial streets and along Phalen Boulevard, Pierce Butler Route and the Midway Industrial area; and
WHEREAS, the project would also support the City’s goals related to Sustainability, Accessibility and Economic Vitality; and
WHEREAS, the grant application requires a minimum of a twenty (20) percent non-federal funding match that would be exceeded by resources the City has programmed through its allocation of Street Improvement Bond proceeds in its five year capital plan; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED , that the Saint Paul City Council supports the application for a TIGER IX Discretionary Grant to substantially complete construction of the Saint Paul Grand Round and hereby authorizes the Departments of Parks and Recreation and Public Works to submit such application to the US Department of Transportation, and if the grant is awarded, authorizes the proper City officials to execute contracts and grant agreements as are necessary to implement the project on behalf of the City of Saint Paul.