$9 million coming for W.Va. trail, streetscape projects
The Gateway Trail in Nicholas County is one of many West Virginia infrastructure projects set to receive grant money for tourism development. Photo courtesy of Monongahela National Forest.
Grants totaling more than $9 million for a variety of recreational trail, streetscape and sidewalk projects across the state were announced Monday by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Grants totaling more than $9 million for a variety of recreational trail, streetscape and sidewalk projects across the state were announced Monday by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
The 22 projects receiving a total of $1.2 million in Recreational Trails Program grants ranged from a $22,500 handicap-accessible upgrade of half-mile Whispering Spruce Trail at the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia's highest peak, to $240,000 to support motorized trail use at six Hatfield-McCoy Trail systems.
More than $7 million in Transportation Enhancement Grants were awarded to 36 projects across the state to pay for streetscape, historic preservation and tourism development projects. Those grants ranged from a $529,668 award to the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority for its Washington Street West Streetscape project, to $50,000 to conduct a coal heritage survey in McDowell and Raleigh counties.
Eight school crossing and sidewalk projects totaling more than $800,000 were funded through the West Virginia Safe Routes to School program. They included awards of $130,000 each to Rainelle Elementary School's Sumac Lane Sidewalk Corridor and the Walk & Bike Safe project serving Charleston's Piedmont Elementary School.
Federal Highway Administration funds make up 80 percent of the Recreational Trails and Transportation Enhancement grants and cover 100 percent of the cost of Safe Routes to School projects. The projects are administered by the state Department of Transportation.
"This year, we had some great projects, but we had requests for twice as much money as we received," Tomblin said immediately before announcing the grants.
Three of the Recreational Trails Program grants went to projects on land administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Monongahela National Forest projects included the Whispering Spruce Trail upgrade in Pendleton County, plus $70,500 in improvements to the Gateway and Fork Mountain trails in Nicholas County. In the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County, a $41,760 grant will improve signage and pay for a new bridge crossing Crosier Branch along the Potts Valley Rail Trail.
Other large grants announced Monday included Transportation Enhancement awards of $500,000 to continue work on Old Main Corridor connecting downtown Huntington to the Marshall University campus; $380,000 to the town of Bath's streetscape project in Morgan County; $360,000 for Alderson's Memorial Bridge understructure; $350,000 for Morgantown's Walnut Street Streetscape, and $300,000 each for Nitro's streetscape program and Lewisburg's U.S. 219 North sidewalk project.
Other Transportation Enhancement grants went to:
Boone County: Madison's Main Street Streetscape, $200,000
Brooke: Wellsburg's Charles Street Streetscape, $164,000
Brooke and Hancock: Panhandle Rail Trail Extension, $100,000
Cabell: Huntington's Heritage Station Revitalization, $38,400
Fayette: Oak Hill's Virginia Street sidewalk project, $80,000
Fayette and Greenbrier: Meadow River Rail Trail, $250,000
Grant: Town of Bayard sidewalks, $24,000
Greenbrier: Rainelle Streetscape, $240,000; Ronceverte Main Street Streetscape, $158,400
Harrison: Shinnston's Charles Street sidewalk project, $183,650; Lumberport's Jones Run Road, $168,000; Nutter Fort's sidewalk project, $8,000
Jackson: Ripley's South Court Street Revitalization, $154,800
Kanawha: St. Albans Streetscape, $245,000; Dunbar Downtown Streetscape, $278,208
Marion: Farmington Pedestrian Access, $80,000; Pleasant Valley sidewalks, $112,000; Barrackville-Mannington Trail, $280,000; White Hall's U.S. 250 sidewalk project, $90,000
Monongalia: Westover's Dunkard Avenue Sidewalk, $240,000
Preston: Terra Alta Trail amenities, $24,000
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Grants totaling more than $9 million for a variety of recreational trail, streetscape and sidewalk projects across the state were announced Monday by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
The 22 projects receiving a total of $1.2 million in Recreational Trails Program grants ranged from a $22,500 handicap-accessible upgrade of half-mile Whispering Spruce Trail at the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia's highest peak, to $240,000 to support motorized trail use at six Hatfield-McCoy Trail systems.
More than $7 million in Transportation Enhancement Grants were awarded to 36 projects across the state to pay for streetscape, historic preservation and tourism development projects. Those grants ranged from a $529,668 award to the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority for its Washington Street West Streetscape project, to $50,000 to conduct a coal heritage survey in McDowell and Raleigh counties.
Eight school crossing and sidewalk projects totaling more than $800,000 were funded through the West Virginia Safe Routes to School program. They included awards of $130,000 each to Rainelle Elementary School's Sumac Lane Sidewalk Corridor and the Walk & Bike Safe project serving Charleston's Piedmont Elementary School.
Federal Highway Administration funds make up 80 percent of the Recreational Trails and Transportation Enhancement grants and cover 100 percent of the cost of Safe Routes to School projects. The projects are administered by the state Department of Transportation.
"This year, we had some great projects, but we had requests for twice as much money as we received," Tomblin said immediately before announcing the grants.
Three of the Recreational Trails Program grants went to projects on land administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Monongahela National Forest projects included the Whispering Spruce Trail upgrade in Pendleton County, plus $70,500 in improvements to the Gateway and Fork Mountain trails in Nicholas County. In the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County, a $41,760 grant will improve signage and pay for a new bridge crossing Crosier Branch along the Potts Valley Rail Trail.
Other large grants announced Monday included Transportation Enhancement awards of $500,000 to continue work on Old Main Corridor connecting downtown Huntington to the Marshall University campus; $380,000 to the town of Bath's streetscape project in Morgan County; $360,000 for Alderson's Memorial Bridge understructure; $350,000 for Morgantown's Walnut Street Streetscape, and $300,000 each for Nitro's streetscape program and Lewisburg's U.S. 219 North sidewalk project.
Other Transportation Enhancement grants went to:
Boone County: Madison's Main Street Streetscape, $200,000
Brooke: Wellsburg's Charles Street Streetscape, $164,000
Brooke and Hancock: Panhandle Rail Trail Extension, $100,000
Cabell: Huntington's Heritage Station Revitalization, $38,400
Fayette: Oak Hill's Virginia Street sidewalk project, $80,000
Fayette and Greenbrier: Meadow River Rail Trail, $250,000
Grant: Town of Bayard sidewalks, $24,000
Greenbrier: Rainelle Streetscape, $240,000; Ronceverte Main Street Streetscape, $158,400
Harrison: Shinnston's Charles Street sidewalk project, $183,650; Lumberport's Jones Run Road, $168,000; Nutter Fort's sidewalk project, $8,000
Jackson: Ripley's South Court Street Revitalization, $154,800
Kanawha: St. Albans Streetscape, $245,000; Dunbar Downtown Streetscape, $278,208
Marion: Farmington Pedestrian Access, $80,000; Pleasant Valley sidewalks, $112,000; Barrackville-Mannington Trail, $280,000; White Hall's U.S. 250 sidewalk project, $90,000
Monongalia: Westover's Dunkard Avenue Sidewalk, $240,000
Preston: Terra Alta Trail amenities, $24,000
Putnam: Hometown Park/Valley Park Scenic Byway improvements, $65,600
Randolph: Elkins Crosswalk Safety project, $115,920
Roane: Spencer Streetscape, $120,978
Wirt: Elizabeth Sidewalk Improvements, $86,240
Wood: Williamstown Sidewalk Improvements, $200,000
Statewide: Sesquicentennial highway historical markers, $168,000
Other Recreational Trails Program grants went to:
Berkeley: Yankauer Nature Preserve accessible restrooms, $50,000
Boone: Dartmont Park walking trail, $40,000
Greenbrier: Lewisburg & Ronceverte Trail, $48,000
Harrison: Salem Trail resurfacing, $8,000
Monongalia: Deckers Creek Trail resurfacing, $80,000; Westover Park Loop, $28,800
Monongalia and Preston: Deckers Creek Trail undercut repairs, $115,609
Morgan: North Berkeley Rail Trail, $80,000
Preston: West Virginia Northern Rail Trail acquisition, $80,000
Raleigh: Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park trails, $80,000
Wetzel: Paden City Riverfront Trail improvements, $32,000
Other Safe Routes to School grants went to:
Barbour: Sidewalk safety to Mount Vernon School, $115,000
Greenbrier: Alderson Elementary Safe Routes to School, $110,000
Kanawha: Holz Elementary Safe Routes to School, $120,000
Wood: Franklin Elementary School Project, $112,000
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
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