The Washington State Department of Transportation recently issued a total of $15.8 million to support 15 active transportation projects statewide via its Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program or SWCCP, named for the late community organizer who worked to reconnect her East Central neighborhood in Spokane after the construction of I-90 split the community in half.
[Above photo by WSDOT]
The agency said that SWCCP grant funding aims to help communities develop and build infrastructure that enables safer walking, biking, and rolling along and across current and former state highways while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This spans everything from constructing sidewalks, bike paths, and biking trails to developing community engagement processes, WSDOT noted.
The program, now in its third year, prioritizes communities and tribes most affected by environmental health disparities and by barriers to opportunity, the agency said.
“This program is the embodiment of our Active Transportation Plan,” explained Barb Chamberlain, WSDOT’s active transportation division director, in a statement. “To build and maintain a transportation system that serves everyone, we have to fund safe active travel where people need it most.”
WSDOT added that the SWCCP is currently seeking suggestions for its fourth round of funding, with applications due by September 19.
The agency said the SWCCP, now fully funded by the state’s Climate Commitment Act, originally started out as a pilot program with $50 million over four years set to end in 2027. However, the state legislature made the program permanent and developed a dedicated funding source for it in the 2025-2026 legislative session. The new funding sustains the program at $12.5 million per year into the future, WSDOT said.
In addition to SWCCP, WSDOT said its Active Transportation Division manages grant programs such as Safe Routes to School and the Pedestrian Bicyclist Programs. Together, they have distributed more than $480 million to Washington communities since launching in 2005, the agency noted.
Other state departments of transportation operate similar active transportation support programs.
For example, the Colorado Department of Transportation recently issued $17.3 million in grants to 11 local projects aimed at improving air quality along parts of the Front Range region of the state.
Colorado DOT said its Nonattainment Area Air Pollution Mitigation Enterprise or NAAPME grant program is providing funding to the Community Clean Transportation Assistance Program or CCTAP to projects that address the impacts of automotive emissions in the nine-county Denver and North Front Range Ozone Nonattainment Area, where ozone levels exceed federal standards.
The agency said that those projects seek to reduce automotive emissions by improving multimodal access and promoting active transportation options such as biking and walking. Those projects also aim to increase safety and connectivity through infrastructure upgrades and strategic mobility hubs.
In February, the Minnesota Department of Transportation noted that 10 cities statewide are receiving grants via its Active Transportation Planning Assistance program to help them increase the number of residents walking and biking within their communities.
Funded by the state legislature, MnDOT said that program offers an estimated $100,000 worth of technical assistance from a consultant, such as developing an action plan and demonstration project.
The agency added that it does not issue those grants directly to recipients and that each community receiving a grant is responsible for covering the implementation costs – such as construction – of their respective active transportation projects.
And the Massachusetts Department of Transportation recently joined with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to launch the “MassTrails 10” campaign to showcase the recreational opportunities of trails, as well as how they connect to local transit services and other broader trail networks.
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