Austin seeks federal funds to transform abandoned railroad tracks into future trail
The City of Austin is seeking up to $25 million in federal grant funds to help transform an abandoned railroad track in south Austin into a new trail system.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin is seeking up to $25 million in federal grant funds to help transform an abandoned railroad track in south Austin into a new trail system.
Austin City Council approved Thursday submitting an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. City leaders are seeking the funding to support the construction of the Bergstrom Spur Trails to Transit project, a six-mile project planned from Vinson Drive to East Riverside near U.S. Highway 183, per project documents.
Approximately $1.5 billion is available through the RAISE grant to projects "that decrease greenhouse gas emissions, address environmental justice and racial equity, and reduce barriers to opportunity," per city documents. Individual projects can earn up to $25 million, with the city poised to offer a funding match of $6.25 million if the project is awarded federal dollars.
That city-led matching fund would come from the City of Austin's Urban Trails funds from the 2020 Mobility Bond, in addition to other sources, city documents added.
The Bergstrom Spur Trail is an urban trail with planned connections to major transit stations, future micromobility stations and transit enhancements. Those transit destinations include the South Congress Transit Center, 11 CapMetro local bus routes, a future CapMetro Raid bus route along with Project Connect's future light rail line along Riverside Drive.
The goal of the project is to offer safer eastern and western pedestrian and bike services and recreation in areas denoted as "high-density, low-income, and park-deficient," per documents.
The Bergstrom Spur Trail is in its design phase, with officials noting construction on the project can begin quickly, should it be awarded federal dollars.