City staff told the Bicycle Advisory Board that the West Central neighborhood has secured design funding to move a set of neighborhood traffic-calming and bicycle projects toward construction-ready documents, using a mix of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

The initiative originated with neighborhood leaders who asked the city to review previously listed TIF projects that were never built and to reprioritize and update a fundable list. Colin, a project presenter, said the TIF district currently holds about “a million, million and a half right now in the bank” and that neighborhood representatives were embedded in the project management team during 2023–2024 outreach and concept development.

Major priorities on the winnowed list include protected bike lanes on Broadway, Elm and Chestnut greenways, traffic calming on Dean and Boone, sidewalk infill and crossing improvements at Maple and Ash and Maxwell. Kittelson and Associates served as the lead consultant; Cascadia Grama was retained as an economic subconsultant to model how a package of improvements could raise neighborhood development potential without displacing existing residents.

City staff said three to four projects will use ARPA funds to reach final design, and several top projects have been identified as candidates for paint-and-post quick builds paired with the city's 27-by-27 bicycle priority network. Staff noted one funding constraint: elements of the Safe Streets for All implementation grant that described bike infrastructure have been removed from that federal funding stream, prompting staff to design interim solutions such as wide shoulders that can later be converted to protected bike lanes.

Why this matters: neighborhood-driven lists and TIF funding can fold local traffic-calming and biking projects into economic development strategies; the board was asked to review the designs as they reach 100% design and to support quick-build pilots that advance the Elm Street greenway this year.

No formal vote was taken; staff sought advice and questions from board members and said the next steps include final design bidding and coordination with grant-funded bus-stop improvements on Broadway.