Localities and regional applicants in the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (SAWMPO) region submitted 14 unique tranportation project grant applications requesting $78 million to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) Smart Scale Funding Program on August 17, 2020. The biannual program awards grants for selected roadway and pedestrian improvements, and no local funding match is required. A total of 45 applications totalling a requeted $231.6 million were submitted throughout the VDOT Staunton Planning District, which covers counties west of the Blue Ridge from Rockbridge County to Frederick County. An outline of the SAWMPO’s 14 applications is below:
- SAW MPO: 14 applications, $78 million (15 if you count Route 254, $81 million)
- Augusta County: 5 applications(1 outside of MPO), $37.9 million
- Waynesboro: 4 applications, $26.7 million
- Staunton: 3 applications, $12.1 million
- BRITE Transit: 3 applications, $4.2 million
Smart Scale is a funding program that prioritizes projects by the transportation goals and needs found in VTrans, the state’s transportation plan, and also five evaluation factors: safety, congestion, accessibility, economic development, and environmental quality. The program accepts applications every two years, and this is the fourth iteration, or fourth round, of the funding program. There are two types of entities that can submit applications: one is regional, which includes MPOs, PDCs, and transit agencies, — which includes the SAWMPO, the CSPDC, and BRITE for the SAW region – and the second is local, which includes counties, cities, and towns such as Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro. Each entity was eligible to submit up to four applications.
The results are expected to be announced by VDOT in January 2021. Learn more at http://vasmartscale.org/