Supplemental funding; Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program

Supplemental funding; Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program. (a) In addition to any other funding that may be provided to the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program from federal, State, or other sources, including, but not limited to, the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, the Department shall set aside $50,000,000 received by the Department from the Road Fund for the projects in the following categories: pedestrian and bicycle facilities and the conversion of abandoned railroad corridors to trails. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c), funds set aside under subsection (a) shall be administered according to the requirements of the current Guidelines Manual published by the Department for the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, including, but not limited to, decision-making by the Department and the applicable Metropolitan Planning Organization and proportional fund distribution according to population size. (c) For projects funded under this Section: (1) local matching funding shall be required according to a sliding scale based on community size, median income, and total property tax base; (2) Phase I Studies and Phase I Engineering Reports are not required to be completed before application is made; and (3) at least 25% of funding shall be directed towards projects in high-need communities, based on community median income and total property tax base. (d) The Department shall adopt rules necessary to implement this Section. (e) The Department shall adhere to a 2-year funding cycle for the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program with calls for projects at least every other year. (f) The Department shall make all funded and unfunded Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program applications publicly available upon completion of each funding cycle, including how each application scored on the program criteria. (Source: P.A. 101-32, eff. 6-28-19; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)