County Executive Tom Gordon is pleased to announce that $620,000 in grants has been approved by WILMAPCO to aid the New Castle County Department of Land Use in sound transportation planning.
“These grants are welcomed tools that will help us in our effort to create more of an integrated approach to land use and transportation planning,” County Executive Gordon said. “These two areas have been fragmented for too long.”
To help make the Executive’s vision for integration possible, Land Use General Manager Eileen Fogarty applied for transportation grants from the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO). WILMAPCO is the federally required Metropolitan Planning Organization for New Castle County, DE and Cecil County, MD.
“I am thrilled with WILMAPCO’s support of New Castle County,” Fogarty said. “These grants will help us provide livable and sustainable communities for the future.”
The grants were approved by the WILMAPCO Council on March 13. The projects include:
• Glasgow Avenue
• A 20-year Analysis of Integration of Transportation & Land Use
• Red Clay Valley Scenic Byway
• The Tri-State Mall
WILMAPCO Executive Director Tigist Zegeye said most of the transportation projects would be assigned to consultants. However, she may have the Tri-State Mall study conducted in house. This would potentially save WILMAPCO $75,000.
Zegeye said she looked forward to working with New Castle County on these projects.
“It’s a partnership we have built for a long time,” Zegeye said. “The key aspect is to have land use and transportation linked together to improve quality of life. It’s important to keep in mind that we are still in the planning phase, but this is a very important starting point nonetheless.”
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