ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Bicycle safety and education programs, school safety route improvements and a walking trails expansion are among six Lehigh Valley projects to benefit from a $2.6 million federal grant.
The Transportation Alternative SetAside Program, or TASA, grant was announced by the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study during a Joint Technical and Coordinating Committee meeting Wednesday.
“What is most impressive about the TASA awards is how the LVTS came together to choose projects and programs focused on safety, families, economic impact and immediate implementation. These allocations make a difference here, now.”LVPC Transportation Planner Evan Gardi
The grants through TASA were awarded to the Lehigh Valley projects from among 74 applicants.
The LVTS held public workshops and applied a complex scoring system designed to ensure the money has the most impact in the community.
“What is most impressive about the TASA awards is how the LVTS came together to choose projects and programs focused on safety, families, economic impact and immediate implementation,” LVPC Transportation Planner Evan Gardi, TASA project lead said.
“These allocations make a difference here, now.”
The winning project
The winning projects are:
• Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, $634,122.
Programming includes bicycle safety and maintenance education for 4,000 students, kindergarten through eighth grade. Much of the education is done at school campuses across the Lehigh Valley and at CAT’s Bethlehem location.
• Community Bike Works, $634,122.
For community programs. Carrying the mission of teaching life lessons through bicycles and impacting hundreds of children throughout the Lehigh Valley. Its popular Build-a-Bike program enables nearly 600 youth, ages 9-18, to connect with adult mentors to learn bicycle maintenance, safety and life skills. Students who complete the program earn ownership of the bikes on which they worked through the 12-week program.
• South Bethlehem Greenway Trail Extension, $500,000.
For Bethlehem to build a one-mile trail extension connecting its South Bethlehem Greenway with the Saucon Rail Trail in Hellertown. The project is part of a $7.1 million plan to connect two of the region’s most widely used trails, closing one of Pennsylvania’s Top 10 trail gaps.
• Allentown Safe Routes to School Upgrades, $400,000.
For Allentown to modernize 59 school zone traffic controls and install eight new ones. It’s part of a $2.4 million plan to improve safety along school zones throughout Allentown School District campuses.
• Downtown Easton Intersection Redesign, $300,000.
The project will redesign intersections and install separate bike lanes along Northampton Street, from Greenwood Avenue in Palmer Township to Larry Holmes Drive. The $2.6 million plan will calm traffic and provide better fields of vision for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
• Albert Street D&L Trail “Share the Road” corridor, $95,000.
The Allentown project will improve safety and efficiency by adding new traffic control and “share the road” markings along Albert Street to better connect the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor with Canal Park.
Create connected networks
In many cases, the grant funding, which covers 2025-26, enables awardees to collectively access millions of dollars of additional funding to advance and complete impactful community projects.
“Through the TASA program, planners and project sponsors have the power to reshape communities. They create connected networks that move people safely and fill infrastructure gaps while linking opportunities, services and people to one another.”LVTS Coordinating Committee Chairman Rick Molchany
“Through the TASA program, planners and project sponsors have the power to reshape communities,” LVTS Coordinating Committee Chairman Rick Molchany said.
“They create connected networks that move people safely and fill infrastructure gaps while linking opportunities, services and people to one another.”
TASA funding supports community-based projects that expand transportation options and enhance the transportation experience.
The projects include pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure for non-driver access to public transportation, community improvements, environmental mitigation and recreational trails.
