Thirteen communities in Oregon have been awarded Transportation and Growth Management Program grants to fund transportation and land use planning projects.

Thirteen communities across Oregon — from Ashland to Ontario — have been awarded Transportation and Growth Management Program grants to fund transportation and land use planning projects. The Transportation and Growth Management Program (TGM), a partnership between the Department of Land Conservation and Development and the Oregon Department of Transportation, awards grants to support communities working to create vibrant, livable places where people can walk, bike, take transit or drive where they want to go.

"These grants reflect how planning can help resolve transportation and land use issues in a wide variety of communities," said Erin Doyle, Intergovernmental Relations associate of the League of Oregon Cities, and chair of the TGM Program Advisory Committee. "TGM is funding projects in seven cities with populations from 620 to 168,000 and is supporting TriMet, which serves a large metropolitan area of 1.5 million people. The five-county projects include first-time awardee Coos County, which means TGM has now provided assistance to all 36 county governments — assistance that moves projects closer to reality."

For this year's funding cycle, 36 applications requested $5 million. Recipients will work with staff to develop each project, including final award amounts based on the scope of each grant. Award amounts are expected to range between $100,000 and $250,000. Award recipients are listed below, and project descriptions are online at the TGM website: oregon.gov/LCD/TGM/Pages/grants.aspx.

• city of Ashland
• city of Eugene
• city of Independence
• city of King City
• city of Monroe
• city of Sandy
• city of Ontario
• TriMet
• Clackamas County
• Coos County
• Klamath County
• Washington County
• Yamhill County

Awards will be used for various projects, such as updating transportation system plans, a process that local governments must do regularly in order to move transportation and land use projects forward. Funds also can be used to develop a coordinated land use and transportation plan, which the city of Monroe will be doing to help guide development in its Riverside District. Grants to Clackamas County and Coos County will support development of public transit plans.

Planning is critical to the success of a community's economic and environmental health, yet there are few sources of transportation and land use planning funds for local governments. With more than 1,100 projects completed in more than 25 years, Oregon's Transportation and Growth Management Program continues to provide value by helping communities craft their future transportation systems in concert with their desired land uses.

In addition to planning grants, the program offers local governments other resources, including education and outreach workshops, speakers and publications; code assistance; quick response; and transportation system plan assessments.

For more information, visit oregon.gov/LCD/TGM/Pages/publications.aspx.

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