NCDOT opens multimodal planning grant applications for 2024

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has opened up applications for its 2024 Multimodal Planning Grant Program, which helps to provide state planning funds for identifying bike and walking paths and transit connections.

NCDOT says applications should include information outlining a comprehensive strategy, rather than a single project, for expanding bicycle and pedestrian opportunities in a community. The plans may also address facilities, programs, policies and design guidelines that encourage safe walking and bicycling.

The following are also eligible to apply:

• Municipalities of all sizes and counties with populations of less than 100,000 seeking to update their existing bicycle or pedestrian plan if it is at least five years old.
• Municipalities with populations of less than 10,000 seeking an abbreviated project acceleration plan that prioritizes project identification and implementation for small towns

The program is sponsored by the NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility and Transportation Planning divisions and has awarded approximately $8.6 million to 260 municipalities and six counties since it started in 2004.

Proposals are divided and judged in geographical groups to help establish equal distribution of funding across the state. Selected recipients commonly include a diverse mix of municipalities from large cities to small towns.

Applications must be submitted electronically by 5 p.m. March 25. Award recipients are expected to be notified by May.