Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has announced the availability of $7 million in grants for projects and activities aimed at advancing the state's long-range transportation and planning goals. The application deadline is April 14.

"Helping local partners improves connections between communities and strengthens transportation across the state," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. "The foundation of a safe, reliable and accessible system of transportation is smart planning. This funding opportunity only furthers IDOT's mission under Gov. Pritzker to get stakeholders the resources they need to improve the lives of Illinois residents."

The selection process for these awards will focus on projects that align with IDOT's Long-Range Transportation Plan or its multimodal plans, which include transit, rail, bike, freight, and highway safety plans. Eligible activities cover a range of areas such as planning studies, data collection and analysis, research and program development, performance management, and outreach efforts.

Potential applicants include local and state agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning commissions, and nonprofit entities with public sponsors. Successful applicants must provide a 20% funding match; however, proposals benefiting disadvantaged or economically distressed communities will be prioritized for full funding.

For more information or to apply for these grants, interested parties can visit https://idot.click/lrtp.

These grants are funded through federal Statewide Planning and Research funds managed by IDOT. These funds aim to create a cooperative framework for transportation investment decisions while supporting transportation planning and research throughout Illinois.