DOT Helps Rural Counties Find Funding, With Deadlines Approaching
The Department of Transportation Has Curated Resources Specifically for Rural Counties, Including Information and Tutorials to Help Them Make Their Case for Funding.
According to the National Association of Counties, all rural counties have a roads department, but far fewer rural counties have personnel who can spend their time writing grant applications and finding funding for projects beyond maintaining infrastructure, so ROUTES is designed to make federal programming more accessible.
“The bipartisan infrastructure law did provide a lot of money, $44 billion in fact, for rural communities. It’s great, but it’s also stressful and it’s a little overwhelming,” Lily Ballengee told the Rural Action Caucus July 13. She is a transportation planner in the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Rural Transportation Policy Office.
“We want you to prioritize your time focusing on what matters to you instead of filtering through all of that” information that doesn’t pertain to rural counties, she noted.
The initiative collects DOT resources that apply to rural communities, offers direct technical assistance and is designed to be more accessible with understaffed counties in mind. ROUTES also a monthly email newsletter with funding updates.
