The city of Bryan has announced receiving nearly $2 million dollars in federal money towards the costs of additional sidewalks and bike lanes.
The city will pay about one-fourth of the construction costs plus the staff time to design three projects.
One is a 12 foot wide path along the freeway’s northbound service road between Boonville and Old Reliance.
A second is a bike lane along Coulter from 29th to South College.
And sidewalks would be built along Coulter between William Joel Bryan and South College.
From the city of Bryan:
The City of Bryan was one of only 17 cities statewide selected to receive funding under a competitive program that awarded $25.3 million to project sponsors with populations between 5,000 and 200,000. Two Bryan projects were included in the slate of projects approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, the governing body of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), on October 26, 2017. Bryan is scheduled to receive $1,962,036 in federal funds to supplement local matching funds of $654,112 for actual construction costs. The City of Bryan will fund the design of both projects as required by the program.
The federally funded Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program provides opportunities to expand transportation choices and enhance the transportation experience through categories of activities related to the existing surface transportation system. The program focuses on nontraditional transportation projects and is only applied toward the actual construction costs. The type of projects eligible for construction funding include on-road bicycle improvements, off-road shared use paths, sidewalks, infrastructure improvements providing safer routes to schools, and infrastructure improvements improving safety for non-motorized transportation.
The first Bryan transportation improvement funded is the Coulter Drive Sidewalks and Bike Lanes project. Up to $1,029,860 in federal funds (approximately 75 percent of the estimated construction cost) has been allocated to the project with the City of Bryan providing local matching funds totaling at least $343,287 (25 percent) for the project. The scope of the project includes installation of 6-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides of Coulter Drive from South College Avenue to William J. Bryan. Bicycle lanes will be installed along Coulter Drive from South College Avenue to 29th Street to match existing ones already in place from 29th Street to William J. Bryan. The City of Bryan’s Capital Improvement Program in Fiscal Year 2018 includes funding for the design of the Coulter Drive Project and funding for construction in Fiscal Year 2020. The scope of the Capital Improvement Project includes complete reconstruction of Coulter Drive from South College Avenue to 29th Street along with these sidewalk and bicycle improvements.
The second project funded is the installation of a 12-foot-wide shared use path along the State Highway (SH) 6 (Earl Rudder Freeway) northbound frontage road from Old Reliance Road to FM 158 (Boonville Road). This project will provide much needed sidewalk and bicycle connections to Bryan ISD campuses and retail establishments along the corridor connecting the new shared use pathway to the existing shared use pathway on FM 158 previously constructed by TxDOT. Up to $932,176 (75 percent of the estimated construction cost) in federal funds has been allocated to the project with the City providing a local construction match of at least $310,725 (25 percent). The City of Bryan’s Capital Improvement Program in Fiscal Year 2020 includes funding for the design and local construction match for this project.
Both project nominations included multiple letters of support from citizens and other local/regional organizations for which the City of Bryan is grateful.