Advocacy Win! GDOT Awards Zero-Percent Local Match Grants to Small Georgia Communities 

We’re excited to share that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has begun to award Transportation Alternatives (TA) grants with no required local match for communities with populations of 5,000 or below. This is an exciting opportunity to make walking, biking, and rolling safer and more accessible in rural communities across Georgia. 

This development is the direct result of Go Georgia’s advocacy and collaborative efforts with partners such as the national Safe Routes Partnership and the League of American Bicyclists. Together, we have worked to alleviate the financial barriers preventing communities from developing safe active transportation infrastructure. This change didn’t come about overnight; it required consistent advocacy over the course of two years. The logistics of eliminating local match requirements for small communities were far from obvious and we applaud GDOT for successfully identifying and dedicating state funding. According to Ben Kane, GDOT Planning Programs Administrator,  “Beginning in 2025, GDOT and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) partnered to offer TA match assistance on qualifying projects using funds from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB). GDOT also identified additional state funds to go towards TA matches. These new funding sources allowed us to begin over 15 new pedestrian and bicycle improvement projects in rural areas that otherwise would not have had the means to cover the required 20% match.” 

Big thanks are owed to Ben Kane, as well as Marisa Jones of the Safe Routes Partnership, for their ongoing collaboration that helped this goal become reality!

‍Project Highlight: Firefly Trail

Thanks to two awards from Transportation Alternatives in 2025, segments of the popular Firefly Trail in Northeast Georgia are moving forward with zero-percent local match. In unincorporated Oglethorpe County, this will include preliminary engineering (PE), right-of-way (ROW) acquisition, and construction for a 4.5-mile segment of the Firefly Trail between the southern Maxeys city limits and the Greene County line. Meanwhile, in Union Point, TA will fund PE, ROW, and construction for a key 0.3-mile segment along Carlton Street, extending the existing trail fully into downtown Union Point. These segments will connect more communities to one another, offering safer recreational and transportation opportunities for nearby residents. 

Lanier Rhodes, mayor of Union Point, says, “Completing the final piece of the Firefly Trail into downtown Union Point is critical to the entire 39-mile project, because Union Point is where the Athens Branch of the Georgia Railroad started. When finished, it will be a significant boost to our local economy. We are overwhelmed at receiving the Transportation Alternative Program award and greatly appreciate GDOT's Trust Fund, which will cover the twenty percent local match that would be beyond our means.”

Congratulations to everyone involved in achieving this big step toward making Georgia a better place to bike, walk, and roll! 

Through our Grants Assistance Program, we offer free or discounted planning and technical assistance to under-resourced communities, and we’re pleased to add these zero-percent local match TA grants to our list of successful efforts benefiting Georgia communities. Think we may be able to help your community? Reach out to grants@go-georgia.org to explore how we can work together!