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FY23 RAISE Grant Application
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DESCRIPTION: Application for grant funding for the final design and construction of the Downtown Transit Center and connecting transit corridor with City of New Orleans |
AGENDA NO: Click or tap here to enter text. |
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ACTION REQUEST: ☒ Approval ☐ Review Comment ☐ Information Only ☐ Other |
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize the Interim Chief Executive Officer to seek federal funds not to exceed the amount of $28,000,000 for final design and construction of the Downtown Transit Center and connecting transit corridor. The total project amount is estimated at $35,000,000; the local match is 20% with the RTA share not to exceed $5,200,000.
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ISSUE/BACKGROUND:
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The Board previously selected the Basin and Canal Street location for the future site of the Downtown Regional Transit Center and authorized staff to begin pursuing site control, funding and all engineering and assessments required to build the Transit Center in this location. RTA has been applying for federal funds unsuccessfully for several years to fund design and construction. The most recent application was FY22 RAISE grant in a joint application with the City of New Orleans as the grant lead. The joint application also included the design and construction of a multi-modal corridor along Basin/Loyola Street with dedicated transitway to enhance the project’s community impact and competitiveness. In a debrief with the FTA, the project application was given the highest rating possible; however, the pool of recommended projects was larger than available funding and it did not make the final cut in the Transportation Secretary’s office. Historically, highly rated projects get more competitive with repeat applications in order to improve the quality of the application and community significance.
Additionally, given the priority of the project, the RTA Board authorized moving forward with preliminary design and environmental work using local funds as part of the approved 2023 capital improvement budget. Increasing local share and an advance of local funds to support a project also has historically increased competitiveness for grant funding a project.
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DISCUSSION:
Staff is requesting federal funding not to exceed $28,000,000 over several years for the final design and construction of the Downtown Transit Center and the design and construction of the accompanying connecting multi-modal corridor. The transit center will be led by the RTA and contribute the needed local match. This portion is not-to-exceed $26,000,000 total with the 20% local match of $5,200,000 provided by the RTA. The corridor project is not-to-exceed $9,000,000 total and will be led by the City of New Orleans where they will contribute the 20% local match.
The City of New Orleans and RTA staff agree that for re-application of the project, RTA would be the lead applicant as it is responsible for the largest element of the project.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The RTA will be responsible for the local match not-to-exceed $5,200,000 over the estimated four-year delivery timeline, if the entire grant amount is awarded.
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NEXT STEPS:
The grant application is due by 11:59pm EST on February 28, 2023.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution for FY23 RAISE Grant
Prepared By: Dwight Norton
Title: Interim Chief of Planning & Infrastructure
Reviewed By: Dwight Norton
Title: Interim Chief of Planning & Infrastructure
Reviewed By: Gizelle Banks
Title: Chief Financial Officer
2/6/2023
Lona Hankins Date
Interim Chief Executive Officer