The excuse of not having money to make your community more bike friendly just got a whole lot weaker thanks to Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG).

This funding is another a portion of the overall economic stimulus package and it can fund bicycling planning, construction, and programming:

Entities may develop and implement programs to conserve energy used in transportation, including but not limited to:

• Development of infrastructure such as bike lanes and pathways and pedestrian walkways;
• State/locals/regional integrated planning activities (i.e. transportation, housing, environmental, energy,land use) with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled;
• Incentive programs to reduce commutes by single occupancy vehicles;

Nearly $58 million will go to Michigan cities, townships, and counties that already receive block grant funding (see list below.) A minimum of just over $11 million will be awarded competitively among Michigan’s other communities.

The application deadline is June 25th, 2009. Any awarded funds must be obligated within 18 months.

Royal Oak, Novi and Detroit

Both of these cities are applying for EECBG funding to develop non-motorized transportation master plans. These plans would help both cities develop a strategy for making their cities more walkable and bikeable. (Troy is current going through this plannng.)

Detroit already has a non-motorized transportation plan, so we will be encouraging them so spend a portion of this funding on implementing the plan.

What Can You Do?

We are encouraging all cyclists to contact their local government and ask that they apply for EECBG funding to make their community more bike friendly.

If your city doesn’t have a non-motorized transportation plan (and nearly all don’t in Metro Detroit), EECBG funding can pay for one. This is a good starting point for cities looking to become more bike friendly. For cities like Royal Oak and Novi, these plans costs between $40K and $50K

As mentioned, some cities are automatically eligible for a specific amount of funding. Here’s a listing for eligible cities in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne County. For a complete listing, visit Michigan’s Recovery web site.

Macomb County

• Chesterfield Twp: $181,000
• Clinton Twp: $894,600
• Macomb County: $746,400
• Macomb Twp: $610,200
• City of Roseville: $198,600
• Shelby Twp: $651,200
• City of St. Clair Shores: $544,000
• City of Sterling Heights: $1,203,800
• City of Warren: $1,358,600

Oakland County

• Bloomfield: $169,500
• Commerce Township: $151,000
• Farmington Hills: $791,300
• Novi: $533,100
• Oakland County: $4,879,700
• Pontiac: $683,800
• Rochester Hills: $642,700
• Royal Oak: $543,400
• Southfield: $875,700
• Troy: $921,100
• Waterford: $641,400

Wayne County

• Wayne County: $4,914,200
• Canton Township: $754,100
• City of Dearborn: $970,800
• City of Dearborn Heights: $477,700
• City of Detroit: $8,862,400
• City of Lincoln Park: $145,500
• City of Livonia: $971,100
• City of Redford: $188,000
• City of Taylor: $596,000
• City of Westland: $731,100

Tags: Detroit, economic stimulus, Energy Block Grants, Novi, Planning, Royal Oak

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Detroit, Funding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.