VTrans municipal, bike‑ped and clean‑water grants: what’s in the FY26 book

Joel Perrigo, municipal assistance program manager for VTrans, and other agency staff reviewed municipal programs listed in the FY26 white book on Jan. 29, describing available grant lines, eligibility and where municipalities can find solicitations and guidance.

Perrigo said the park‑and‑ride program is nearing completion of a multi‑year plan; Sharon and Manchester park‑and‑ride projects were described as nearing construction completion this year. The bike‑ped program budget appeared at about $21.8 million for FY26; Perrigo and other staff said roughly half of that total is attributable to the South Burlington bicycle/pedestrian bridge over I‑89, a roughly $10 million pass‑through to the city under a raise grant. The bike‑ped program supports 67 projects in 46 communities and runs two grant tracks: a federally funded program (typically 80% federal / 20% local) and a smaller state‑funded “small‑scale” program (typically 50% state / 50% local) intended for gap‑filling projects such as short sidewalk segments or pedestrian beacons.

On transportation alternatives (TA), agency staff said IIJA doubled the set‑aside for TA and that statute requires reserving half of the TA funds for environmental mitigation projects; the remainder funds projects such as bike‑ped facilities and multimodal connections. Perrigo said the agency also coordinated a single solicitation this year to allow municipal applicants to apply under TA and a municipal stormwater mitigation program where eligibility overlapped.

Perrigo presented municipal assistance funding lines tied to clean‑water compliance: the Better Roads program (FY26 request about $2.19 million total, including roughly $440,000 in transportation funds and the remainder from the state Clean Water Fund) supports road erosion inventories and grants for best management practices; the Grants‑in‑Aid program (about $3.0 million) is formula allocated by hydrologically connected road mileage and funds MRGP (Municipal Roads General Permit) implementation; and a federally funded Municipal Highway Stormwater Mitigation Program supports larger stormwater treatment and planning projects.

Committee members asked whether accepting federal funds could increase project cost and schedule because of NEPA and other federal compliance requirements; staff acknowledged federal funding can lengthen schedules and add requirements and said municipalities sometimes prefer smaller state grants for quicker projects. Perrigo said the agency runs outreach and application workshops for grant solicitations, and that staff are available to help towns scope projects and evaluate tradeoffs between federal and state funding tracks.

The presentation also noted the town highway aid appropriation (quarterly payments based on certified town mileage) and a requested appropriation of about $30.4 million for FY26; Perrigo said the agency’s CFO applies statutory formulas to calculate the annual town aid appropriation.