Transit-Oriented Development Planning Grants Awarded to Communities

Eight communities in the tri-state area have been awarded nearly $200,000 in grants for visioning and planning projects to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) and improve streetscapes near transit stations. The awards mark the first year of the “transit-centered development” grant program administered by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC), a non-profit organization dedicated to achieving a more transit-friendly and equitable transportation system, and supported by One Region Funders’ Group and The Fund for New Jersey.

The funding is promoting efforts in Mount Vernon, Peekskill and Ossining in Westchester; Babylon and Brookhaven on Long Island; Stratford in Connecticut; and Newark and Trenton in New Jersey. The awardees were chosen from a pool of over 40 applicants throughout New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Grants ranged from $5,000 to $50,000.

A total of $42,500 dollars is going to the Westchester communities to encourage development near Metro-North Railroad stations. The City of Mount Vernon will use its $18,750 grant for a public visioning process to advance an effort to transform the area surrounding the Mount Vernon West station through the construction of housing and stores. Also, a green zone along the industrial area on MacQuesten Parkway will make the area more attractive and environmentally friendly. The City of Peekskill received $18,750 to hire a consultant that will design a more attractive and pedestrian-friendly streetscape along Central Avenue and South Water Street, which connect the downtown area to the train stop. The Town of Ossining’s $5,000 grant will be used to support public outreach efforts for the Town’s study of possible uses for the four-acre former Department of Public Works site near the train station, including a public workshop to be conducted by Westchester County Planning.  

Grants totaling $50,000 have been split between the New York towns of Babylon and Brookhaven on Long Island to advance TOD around their Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations. Babylon will hire a consultant to develop environmentally friendly TOD techniques for the area around the Wyandanch train station. Once the study is complete, the town will publish a best practices toolkit for use by other communities. Brookhaven will use the grant money to develop a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for its land use plan. This document is the first step towards implementing transit-friendly development around the town’s Ronkonkoma transportation hub.

The Town of Stratford, Connecticut received $50,000—the largest single TSTC grant. The money will be used to increase awareness of TOD and create a consensus between the community and other stakeholders around the appropriate type of development near the Metro-North train station in historic Stratford Center. Because most of Stratford has been developed, increasing density is one of the few ways it can continue to grow.

More information on the New Jersey projects can be found in the May issue of the Transit-Friendly Development Newsletter, a publication produced jointly by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and NJ TRANSIT.

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