Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program promotes transportation infrastructure

Are you ready to transform your community? Whether you’re planning new transit routes, building sidewalks and bridges or adding bike lanes, there’s funding to help. The Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) grant program offers financial support to turn aging transportation infrastructure into opportunities for improving community connectivity. The program can benefit your community by:

• Improving transportation connections. The program prioritizes projects that create community-centered transportation solutions, especially those that help disadvantaged communities.
• Providing technical assistance. The program provides support to help communities improve access to essential services, such as education, healthcare, jobs, food, recreation and nature.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) started the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) program and Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) program to address the negative impacts of transportation infrastructure investments that disproportionately affected low-income and minority communities. These programs provide grant funding and technical assistance for planning and capital construction projects that remove infrastructure barriers and restore community connectivity.

This year (FY), the DOT has announced a combined allocation of FY 2024, 2025 and 2026 for the RCP program. The NAE program is closed, as all its funds were allocated during the FY 2023 grant cycle. This blog post provides an overview of the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program and how Fehr Graham can help your community secure this funding.

The FY24 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods is open. Up to $607 million is available for planning, construction and technical assistance. Here’s what you need to know before applying.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation

The DOT tends to prioritize applications that demonstrate:

• Equitable development.
• Equity and Justice40 initiative to benefit economically disadvantaged communities.
• Facility suitability.
• Community engagement and community-based partnerships.
• Planning integration.
• Climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
• Workforce development and economic opportunity.

All applications must be submitted through Valid Eval, an online proposal submission system, by Sept. 30, 2024. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications that meet requirements for both programs to maximize their potential for federal support. If an application only meets the requirements for one program, it will only be considered for that program.

Submitting a competitive grant application with all the required information on time requires professional expertise. Partnering with Fehr Graham can help increase your chances of securing a grant.

How Fehr Graham can help Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin communities

At Fehr Graham, we are committed to helping communities across Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin transform their transportation infrastructure. We have the expertise to identify funding sources, determine eligibility and reinforce funding stacks for your community’s projects. Our experienced team matches qualified infrastructure projects with available funding solutions to ensure successful outcomes.

We use every relevant program detail to match your community’s projects with the latest funding opportunities at local, state and federal levels. We will help you determine eligibility, prepare grants and loans, manage grants and help with public hearings.

Fehr Graham Senior Community Development Specialist Bridgette Stocks serves as the principal contact for all funding-related programs, navigating complicated rules and regulations to secure maximum dollars. She is a vital partner when it comes to strengthening communities to provide resilient and critical infrastructure. Her success speaks for itself – she has secured more than $200 million for Fehr Graham clients. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..