Category 1: Facilities for Pedestrians, Bicyclists and Other Non-Motorized Forms of Transportation
1. Project Description
How would you describe the proposed project? Check the most appropriate improvement type(s): ____Sidewalks
____Crosswalks ____On –Road Bike Lane ____Separated Shared Use Path ____Pedestrian or Bike Signal
____Traffic Calming Treatment ____Lighting or Other Safety Feature ____ADA Improvements
2. Acquisition & Development
· Will land be acquired for this phase of the project? If yes, what is the estimated total acreage of the proposed acquisition? How much of the proposed project would be developed on the acquired land?
· To the nearest 1/10 mile, how long is the bicycle or pedestrian facility being proposed under this application? In feet, what is the proposed width of this bicycle or pedestrian facility? If the proposed facility will have varying widths, please specify the width for the majority of the project. Note that sidewalks are NOT suitable for bicycling.
· What type of surface is proposed for this facility? Note that some surface types are not suitable for all users. If there is to be more than one surface type, list all types and the length of each surface type.
· What support facilities are being proposed for construction under this application for funding? Support facilities include but are not limited to: parking lots, bridges, tunnels, restrooms, water fountains, benches, bicycle racks, trail markers/mileage signs, interpretive signage, lighting, etc.
· Please include an itemized budget for the entire project. This should be more detailed than the project cost listing under “Scheduling and Funding” earlier in the application and should include costs for all facilities listed above, design and environmental work, land acquisition costs, construction inspections, hardware purchases, etc..
3. Other Factors
· Will the project be located on a former railroad corridor? Was any of the former rail corridor owned by the Indiana Right of Way Company (IROWCO)? Was any of the property acquired from or donated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)? How much of the proposed bicycle or pedestrian facility will be located on abandoned rail corridor?
· Will the project connect to or extend an existing or funded facility of a compatible type?
· Has your agency previously received federal transportation funds for bicycle or pedestrian projects? If so, what kind of project was it? What type of federal transportation funds were used for the project? When was it funded?
· Is this proposed non-motorized facility supported by the State Trails Plan or identified as a Visionary Trail? What local or regional planning documents provide planning support for this project?
Category 2: Infrastructure Projects & Systems to Provide Safe Routes for Non-Drivers, Including Children, Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities
1. Project Description
· How would you describe the proposed project?
· Who is the intended audience…what group would likely benefit directly from the proposed improvements? Please name the specific facility (school, retirement or nursing home, medical office, senior center, rehabilitation center), if there is one, expected to derive a safety benefit from the proposed improvements.
· Please include a detailed budget for the entire project.
· Please provide data on recent vehicle accident experience for the intended benefit group for the last three years. Note: The data requested here can be obtained from local law enforcement agencies and the Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving. Data must agree with the information provided under “Safety Information” earlier in this application.
2. Other Factors
· List other programs available in the area for assisting this group of non-drivers, such as safe kids, hospital safety programs, etc.
Has this non-driving group been a participant in the Safe Routes to School Program?
· Explain how the proposed improvements coordinate with these existing programs?
· Is a follow up study planned with the proposed project? A follow up study would show the accident rates in the future to determine the success of this project. Please list the details of the study if one is planned.
Category 3: Conversion of Abandoned Railroad Corridors to Trails for Pedestrians, Bicyclists or Other Non-Motorized Transportation Users
Note: Applications for funding trail facility development will typically be reviewed under Category 1: Facilities for Pedestrians, Bicyclists and Other Non-Motorized Forms of Transportation. Only those projects that are proposing to acquire a minimum of 75% abandoned railroad corridor for a trail project will be considered for funding under this category.
1. Length of corridor to be acquired
· To the nearest 1/10 mile, what is the total length of the abandoned railroad corridor to be acquired under this application for funding?
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2. Other factors
· Will this project provide connections to existing pedestrian, bicycle or other non-motorized transportation facilities? Is the proposed facility an extension of an existing trail or compatible facility? Please describe.
· Has your agency previously received Transportation Enhancement funds for abandoned railroad corridor preservation projects? If so, what was the name of that project and when were the TE funds awarded?
· Is any of this corridor owned or formerly owned by the Indiana Right of Way Company (IROWCO)? Please describe how much of this corridor is or was IROWCO property.
· Was any of the corridor acquired from or donated by IDNR? If so, please describe or provide legal descriptions of those pieces of land.
· Is this proposed non-motorized facility supported by the State Trails Plan or identified as a Visionary Trail? What local or regional planning documents provide planning support for this project?
Category 4: Construction of Turnouts, Overlooks or Other Viewing Areas
1. Is this proposed project associated with a designated State or National Byway? Official endorsement letter(s) from the byway organization must be included with this application.
2. Is this project based on an adopted corridor management plan, marketing plan or interpretive plan for this byway?
3. Please describe the principal elements of the proposed project. How does it accommodate travelers who may arrive by bus, RV, as pedestrians or as bicyclists?
4. What local, state of US highway provides the most direct access to the proposed turnout, overlook or viewing area? Please describe your coordination efforts with the responsible road or highway agency. Has access to the proposed turnout, overlook or other viewing area been approved by the responsible road or highway agency?
5. How will the project enhance the visitor experience? Please address the following.
a) Accessibility for persons with disabilities and other users
b) Safety of users of this facility
c) Meaningful interpretation to connect the site with the byway, park, or general environment surrounding the site
d) Authenticity and historical accuracy
e) Hours of operation
Category 5: Inventory, Control or Removal of Outdoor Advertising
1. Is the project area within the view of or located along a national or state designated byway? Have measures affecting the advertising at this location been recommended in the byway’s corridor management plan, interpretive plan or marketing plan?
Is the advertising located on a state historic site, or within a park, preserve, forest, etc.? Please name the park, historic site, nature preserve or forest where the advertising is located.
Is this advertising part of a community’s economic development effort?
2. What is the proposed timeframe for action regarding this outdoor advertising?
3. What guarantees exist to keep the specified area free from future outdoor advertising in perpetuity?
4. Is the subject outdoor advertising of this application considered illegal, non-compliant or non-registered by local mandates or ordinances?
Category 6: Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation of Historic
Transportation Facilities
1. Is the transportation structure or/facility listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)? Provide the date of the NRHP listing or eligibility determination by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (IDNR-DHPA). Applicant assertions alone that the resource “must be eligible because” are not sufficient.
2. Is the project an important part of a local historic preservation initiative that also meets with the IDNR-DHPA’s goals and priorities? Please define how this project relates to the larger preservation effort.
3. Is this project supported as part of a current or future heritage/cultural tourism project?
4. Is the subject transportation structure or/facility in a seriously deteriorated condition or threatened by demolition? Please explain.
5. Is the transportation facility or structure one of the last of its type remaining in Indiana? Please explain.
6. Does the proposed project comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Properties? Please explain.
7. How will this preservation or rehabilitation project maintain the accessibility of the general public to the historic transportation structure or facility?
8. If this project includes a bridge, is it listed on the “Select List:” of Historic Bridges? Be sure to include the necessary information in the “Bridge” section earlier in this application.
Category 7: Vegetation Management within Transportation Rights-of-Way to Improve Safety, Prevent or Control Invasive Species or Provide Erosion Control
1. Is your community a designated Indiana Main Street community? If not, is your vegetation management project part of a community economic development plan or other local initiative?
2. Is your vegetation management project professionally designed? Please provide the name of the design company.
3. How will this project provide a better visitor or resident experience? Please address how the project does the following.
a) Enhances the aesthetics of the project area,
b) Improves the safe flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic,
c) Maintains the authenticity of the area, associated buildings or the cultural heritage of the site.
4. Demonstrate how your vegetation management project enhances the transportation system, economic development or quality of life of your community. Please address the following:
a) Is it a stand-alone project or does it affect others
b) Are there programs or incentives in place to foster economic development?
Note: If your project includes more than incidental improvements to the pedestrian or bicycling network in your area, please complete the Category 1 questions for Pedestrian, Bicycling or Other Non-Motorized Forms of Transportation above.
Category 8: Archaeological Activities Related to Impacts from Implementing Transportation Projects Eligible Under TAP
1. Are the archaeological activities to be conducted within existing, planned, or future transportation rights-of-way? Please list the local, state or US highway associated with this project. Who is the responsible authority managing this route?
2. How did human activity at this location affect surface transportation during the period of archaeological significance?
3. How would the archaeological integrity of the site be maintained and how would artifacts be preserved and protected during and after implementation of the planned transportation project?
4. Would the sites be interpreted as part of a current or future heritage or cultural tourism project?
5. How would the traveling public be informed about archaeologically sensitive sites? Would the public have access to the sites? Please describe how, or if not, why not?
Category 9: Environmental Mitigation, Including Pollution Prevention and Abatement, Mitigation for Storm Water Management, Pollution Abatement Due to Highway Runoff, or Activities to Reduce Vehicle-Caused Wildlife Mortality or Maintain Habitat Connectivity
1. Land Acquisition
· Is land being acquired to provide environmental mitigation or to reduce wildlife mortality or to improve habitat connectivity? If the answer is yes, then the acquisition must be part of this TAP application.
· Is the land the site of a storm water treatment facility?
· How is the land being acquired…is it a fee simple purchase, an easement, or a lease, etc.? Please be specific and include the planned time length (e.g., a 25-year lease or 50-year easement) if the land is not being purchased. If more than one method of acquisition is being used, please list each type of acquisition and the acreage of each portion. Purchasing property will be considered a higher priority than leases or easements and therefore will generate a higher score.
2. Development
· How are any highway runoff problems being addressed? If it is a wetland or similar impoundment, are there natural features at the site that would be adversely affected by its construction, such as natural wetlands?
· What is the design of any storm water pollution control devices being proposed? What degree of assurance can be provided, that it will effectively remove storm water pollutants? Does the design include features such as diversionary structures to distribute water flow throughout the wetland, rather than allowing “short-circuiting”?
· If the facility is a wetland, how has consideration been given to the possible need for an upstream, easily maintainable sediment trap to prevent premature sediment filling of the wetland? If a wetland is to be established, is there a suitable maintenance plan to ensure its long-term viability? Please discuss how the prolonged longevity of desirable planted species will be assured and how domination by undesirable invasive plant species such as Phragmites australis, purple loosestrife and reed canary grass will be precluded?
· What type of structures are proposed to reduce wildlife mortality or to extend habitat connectivity? What species are the focus of the proposed methods? Are any of these species considered endangered species at the state or federal level?
3. Other Factors
· Please include a detailed budget for the entire project, clearly delineating land acquisition costs from development costs.
· Has the applicant formally contacted appropriate agencies to determine whether any regulatory impediments exist to initiation of the proposed project? Please name those agencies.
· Have formal contacts been made with local entities, such as the drainage board or appropriate divisions of the Department of Natural Resources, to assure that there is no opposition to the proposed project? Please name those entities.
· Please discuss any known opposition to this project?
Category 10: Infrastructure Projects or Non-Infrastructure Activities Considered Eligible Under the Safe Routes to School Program
Applicants are strongly encouraged to provide accurate descriptions of their project in the “Project Information” section of this application. For a list of eligible infrastructure improvements and non-infrastructure activities, refer to the “SRTS Parameters” text on the Indiana SRTS webpage (http://www.in.gov/indot/files/SRTS_ProgramParameters.pdf). Specifically include relationship between this project and past SRTS projects or connections with other walking and bicycling improvements.