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Fayetteville desires federal funding for Maple Street redesign

An application submitted by Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas asks for $6.4 million in federal grant funding for the redesign project.
Credit: Fayetteville Arkansas Public Works Department

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas have filed for a federal grant to fund the reconstruction of a portion of Maple Street near the university. 

The joint application submitted by the University of Arkansas and Fayetteville asks for $6.4 million in federal grant funding to help restore the segment of Maple Street between Garland Ave. and the Razorback Regional Greenway

The Maple Street application was submitted in July to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program. The program will distribute $1 billion in discretionary funds in 2021 to cities that apply for the grant. The highly competitive nature of the funding has left only about 7% of the nearly 10,000 total applications receiving funds since 2009. 

The grant review process will evaluate merit criteria based on safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, economic competitiveness, state of good repair, innovation and partnership. This process will also include a benefit-cost analysis, which estimates the return on the investment for the federal dollars. An independent analysis calculated the Maple Street project at 2.72, meaning that every dollar invested in the project will create $2.72 in benefits. 

Local leaders supportive of the street revitalization are hopeful federal funds will get the Maple Street project moving after being in the planning stages for several years because of a lack of funding. The project has received formal support from U.S. representative Steve Womack, U.S. Senator John Boozman U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, Fayetteville's Chamber of Commerce, University of Arkansas leadership and the City of Fayetteville's administration. 

The grant application document includes renderings of the street redesign, full narrative benefits and is available on Fayetteville's website here. 

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