The federal Department of Transportation is continuing to dole out grants for road and transit-related projects, but the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region didn’t make the cut in the latest round of funding. Among the applications the DOT decided not to fund were a proposed $12.5 million parking deck in downtown Davidson and a $20 million plan to add high-occupancy toll lanes to I-77 in north Mecklenburg.

NO I-77 MONEY

The federal DOT said it received $19 billion of applications for $600 million in funding.

State DOT officials had applied for a U.S. DOT’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) II grant to construct high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on I-77 north of Charlotte, which would allow for widening I-77 in north Mecklenburg.

Last month, boards in area towns – including Davidson – all approved letters in support of the grant, and most local officials support the idea. (See Sept. 15, 2010, “Board endorses I-77 toll lanes, splits on ‘beer garden’ issue.” The HOT lanes concept was endorsed last spring by the Lake Norman Transportation Commission, which includes representatives from Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville.

Carroll Gray, executive director of the LNTC, said Friday that even with the federal money, the I-77 widening project still would have had a gap. He said the LNTC and local officials will continue studying their funding options. He said representatives from the state DOT will be talking about the project at the next LNTC meeting on Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m., at Mooresville Town Hall.

CATS STRIKES OUT, TOO

Meanwhile, Charlotte Area Transit System failed to win funding for all three of its TIGER II grant applications. Those included:

• A proposed $12.5 million parking garage to serve commuter bus riders and future train commuters off Jackson Street in Davidson, next to Town Hall.
• $25 million to extend the Lynx Blue Line light rail from 7th Street to 9th Street in downtown Charlotte.
• $67 million to expand light rail platforms on the Blue Line to allow for three-car trains.

Davidson likely will keep hunting for a way to pay for a downtown parking deck. In its latest proposal for the project, the town had suggested possibly using rooftop space on the deck for the Davidson Farmers Market. (See “Parking deck/office building proposed downtown.”)

CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers said in a statement: “These discretionary grants have been highly competitive as other funding options have diminished for transit properties and transportation agencies across the country. There is a significant need for infrastructure improvements throughout the nation. We expect that there will future opportunities to apply for eligible capital projects and that DOT will continue to put forth discretionary grants as a means of funding infrastructure projects.”

CATS has not lost out completely on stimulus and other funding, according to spokeswoman Jean Leier. She noted that the agency has received money for other projects, including $20.7 million to renovate its North Davidson Street bus garage, $3 million for several new hybrid buses, $1.5 million for two other bus garages and $400,000 to update its inventory management system.