The First Tennessee Rural Transportation Organization is excited to announce that Mountain City has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Transportation Thriving Communities Program Grant, a first for a community in the State of Tennessee. This planning, technical assistance, and capacity building support will enable disadvantaged and under-resourced communities to advance a pipeline of transformative infrastructure projects that will increase mobility, reduce pollution, and expand affordable transportation options, connecting communities to the essential opportunities and resources that will help them thrive.
The focus of First Tennessee Rural Planning Organization’s Thriving Communities Program Grant will be on Mountain City. Transportation safety is a number one concern for Mountain City and Johnson County stakeholders, especially surrounding Main Street, Heritage Square, and routes to and from schools. Through TCP technical assistance, context sensitive design solutions will be created for a walkable town center that supports the community’s ADA transition plan.
"We're honored to be one of the communities selected for this opportunity, and we look forward to getting started on making downtown more walkable and enjoyable for citizens and visitors," said Mayor Jerry Jordan of Mountain City. “We look forward to working with USDOT’s Build America Bureau staff to inaugurate the first ever Thriving Communities Program pilot project in Tennessee." shared Chase Milner, FTDD RPO Coordinator. He went on to add that "Mountain City is poised to greatly benefit from the planning expertise and technical assistance as delivered to our Main Streets community partners, especially the stakeholders at Heritage Square Development and the Hometown Service Coalition."
About the First Tennessee Rural Transportation Organization:
The purpose of the First Tennessee Rural Planning Organization (RPO) is to involve local officials in multi-modal transportation planning through a structured process. Our goal is to ensure quality, competence, and fairness in the transportation decision-making process. The RPO process allows rural community leaders and elected officials to consider multi-modal transportation needs on a local and regional basis; the process also allows leaders to review long-term needs, as well as short-term funding priorities, and make future project recommendations to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
Since the RPO was formed in 2005-2006, the main goal of the program has been to assist local governments with identifying multi-modal rural transportation needs through the Development District. As transportation funding mechanisms change throughout the District and nation, the RPO process will continue to be a valuable tool for local governments.
For more information on the U.S. Department of Transportation's Thriving Communities Program, please click here.
For questions about this or other news from the District, please contact Mark Stevans, mstevans@ftdd.org.