Title
Authorizing the Department of Planning and Economic Development to submit the Streetcar Feasibility Study Grant application.
Body
WHEREAS, the Transportation, Community, and System Preservation (TCSP) Program is a Federal Highway Administration Program being jointly developed with the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Rail Administration, the US Department of Transportation, and the US Environmental Protection Agency; and
WHEREAS, the TCSP program provides funding for a comprehensive initiative including planning grants, implementation grants, and research to investigate and address the relationships among transportation, community, and system preservation plans and practices and identify private sector-based initiatives to improve those relationship; and
WHEREAS, the local governments are eligible for TCSP Program discretionary grants to plan strategies which improve the efficiency of the transportation system, reduce environmental impacts of transportation, reduce the need for costly future public infrastructure investments, ensure efficient access to jobs, services and centers of trade, and identify strategies to encourage private sector development patterns which achieve these goals; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan recommends that the City study and implement possible corridors for new bus rapid transit, LRT, streetcars, or commuter rail lines serving Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan specifically recommends the City study the feasibility and possible location of new streetcar lines, as well as explore the use of neighborhood circulators to serve gaps in neighborhood connectivity; and
WHEREAS, the $200,000 federal grant would fund planning to explore the feasibility of a modern streetcar network, and will develop a set of prioritized streetcar investments that are physically feasible and offer the greatest potential for improving local circulation, supporting economic development, and compl...
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