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.

Key points of the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program
Types of grants	Capital construction grant: This grant funds projects that reconnect communities, reduce environmental impact and improve access in disadvantaged communities. A total of $457 million is available for FY24. Community planning grant: The grant pays for planning activities to support future construction projects and facilitates innovative community planning to address localized transportation challenges. Funds worth $150 million are available in FY24.
Eligible applicants	States, local governments, tribal governments, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and nonprofit organizations are eligible applicants for community planning grants. For capital construction grants, eligible applicants include the owners of the project's eligible facilities. Eligible facilities refer to limited-access highways, viaducts, transit lines, rail lines and other principal arterial facilities.
Eligible projects	Eligible projects under capital construction grants include removal, retrofit, mitigation or replacement of an existing facility with a new facility that reconnects communities. Eligible projects under planning grants include public engagement, the study of removing, retrofitting or replacing a facility to improve community connectivity and other transportation planning activities.
Cost share	80% RCP funds and 20% match for community planning grants. 50% RCP funds and 50% local match for capital construction grants.

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.

To learn how Fehr Graham can help your community apply for the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program, contact us or call 815.235.7643.

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..