August 2, 2021
Contact: Dane Eifling
Mobility Coordinator
Engineering Div.
479.575.8243
deifling@fayetteville-ar.gov
City Seeks Federal Grant Funding for Maple Street
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The City of Fayetteville, in collaboration with the University of Arkansas, has submitted a $6.4 million federal grant application to reconstruct a six-block segment of Maple Street between Garland Ave. and the Razorback Regional Greenway.
The grant application was submitted in July to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. The RAISE program will distribute $1 billion in discretionary funding for 2021. The program is highly competitive; since 2009 only about 7 percent of the 9,700 total applications have been funded.
The Maple Street application will be evaluated based on merit criteria that include safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, economic competitiveness, state of good repair, innovation and partnership.
The grant review process also includes a benefit cost analysis (BCA), which estimates the return on investment for federal dollars. The BCA for the Maple Street project was calculated by independent analysis at 2.72 to 1, meaning that every dollar invested will create $2.72 in benefits.
The Maple Street project has been in the planning stages for several years but has lacked the necessary funding for construction. Local leaders who have been supportive of revitalizing this street hope that an infusion of federal funds will get this project moving. The project received formal support from U.S. Representative Steve Womack, U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton, along with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, University of Arkansas leadership, and City of Fayetteville administration.
The 30-page grant application document includes renderings of the street redesign as well as a full narrative of the benefits of the project. It is available on the City of Fayetteville’s website at www.fayetteville-ar.gov/maplestreet.
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