Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program (RCN)

 

About:

The Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program (RCN) is a combination of two programs – the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program (RCP) and the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program (NAE). Its aim is to support projects that advance community-centered connection transportation project, with a priority for projects that benefit disadvantaged communities, by improving access to daily needs such as jobs, education, health care, food, nature and recreation; fostering equitable development and restoration; and reconnecting communities by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating highway or other transportation facilities that create barriers to community connectivity, including to mobility, access, or economic development.

 

 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity:

The U.S. Department of Transportation published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $3.35 billion in grant funding through the RCN discretionary grant program on July 5, 2023. 

 

Important NOFO details: 

 

 Program Grant Types 

  • Community Planning Grants – planning activities for future construction projects and innovative community planning to address localized transportation challenges 

  • Capital Construction Grants – projects to remove, retrofit, mitigate, or replace an existing eligible dividing transportation facility with a new facility that:

    • Reconnects communities 

    • Mitigates a burdening transportation facility 

    • Implements a strategy to reduce environmental harm and/or improve access through transportation improvements

  • Regional Partnerships Challenge Grants – address a persistent regional challenge related to equitable access and mobility 

 

 Program Objectives 

  • Safety 

  • Economic Strength 

  • Equity (with add’l emphasis on Housing Supply & Rural and Tribal Communities) 

  • Climate and Sustainability 

  • Transformation 

  • Organizational Excellence 

Funding

  • $3.35B for FY2023 

 

Deadlines

  • 09/28/2023 - Applications due 

  • 09/30/2026 - Obligation of funds due

 

Additional Info 

 

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