Maryland Congressional Delegation Applauds DOT’s Opening of the Reconnecting Communities Grant Application to Revitalize Divided Communities | U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

June 30, 2022

Lawmakers pushed to incorporate this program within the infrastructure regulation to reconnect communities divided by infrastructure tasks just like the Freeway to Nowhere in West Baltimore

As we speak, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony G. Brown, Jamie B. Raskin, and David Trone (all D-Md.) applauded the Division of Transportation’s (DOT) opening of the appliance course of for the Reconnecting Communities grant program to assist establish and take away or retrofit freeway infrastructure that creates obstacles to mobility and alternative. The $1 billion program is modeled off of laws launched by Senators Van Hollen and Cardin – that the lawmakers then fought to incorporate within the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act – to sort out infrastructure tasks which have divided communities, just like the Freeway to Nowhere in West Baltimore. The grant program will goal areas harmed by the development of the Interstate Freeway System and can in the end convey communities collectively and drive financial improvement. The Home companion invoice was launched by Congressman Brown alongside Congressmen Mfume, Sarbanes, Ruppersberger, and Trone. 

“The Freeway to Nowhere has divided West Baltimore for many years – displacing practically 1,500 residents over time. The opening of this grant software marks the following step in our efforts to take away dangerous infrastructure and convey folks collectively as a substitute of holding our communities again. We’ll be working alongside the Metropolis to safe this grant funding and create a plan to lastly rid West Baltimore of the Freeway to Nowhere – a transparent instance of inequitable infrastructure and its lasting unfavorable impacts on communities,” stated the lawmakers.

Choice will likely be given to purposes from economically deprived communities, particularly these with tasks which might be targeted on fairness and environmental justice, have sturdy neighborhood engagement and stewardship, and a dedication to shared prosperity and equitable improvement. Of the $1 billion out there from the grant program over the following 5 years, $195 million will likely be out there this 12 months and $50 million will likely be devoted to planning actions for communities which may be earlier within the course of.  

The Reconnecting Communities Discover of Funding Alternative introduced right now may be discovered right here. Data on Reconnecting Communities technical help and different sources may be discovered right here. Functions are due October 13, 2022. Awards are anticipated to be introduced in early 2023. The brand new DOT Navigator may be accessed right here and knowledge on the Thriving Communities program may be discovered right here. 

The Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act invests greater than $7 billion immediately in Maryland’s infrastructure, creating higher fairness, good-paying American jobs, and safer roads, bridges, transit techniques, and extra.