New York Awards $97 Million for 35 Sidewalk and Trail Projects Statewide

Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced more than $97 million in federal Transportation Alternatives Program awards for 35 sidewalk, trail and pedestrian safety projects in more than 30 New York communities, including $9.5 million for four projects in the Finger Lakes region and $11.4 million for three projects in Western New York (New York State Office of the Governor via EIN Presswire). The awards move dozens of small and mid-sized public works jobs from application to funded status, and they set up a wave of design, engineering and construction procurement by towns, villages, cities and counties across the state.

What Happened

The Governor's office released the list of selected projects on the afternoon of October 14. The money flows through the Transportation Alternatives Program, known as TAP, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and administered by the New York State Department of Transportation (Office of the Governor). The projects were chosen through a competitive solicitation and rated against established criteria, including overall benefits and how well they fit the program's goals (Office of the Governor).

The state grouped the awards into four categories: $16.9 million for safe routes to school, $52.8 million for sidewalk and pedestrian and bicycle safety work, $11 million for multimodal connections, and $16.5 million for trailway networks (Office of the Governor). U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's statement in the release put the total at $97.1 million (LongIsland.com).

NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said in the release that all New Yorkers "deserve to have safe, reliable and accessible transportation networks in their communities" (Office of the Governor).

What Is Confirmed

The release lists every award by region. The regional totals are (Office of the Governor):

• Mid-Hudson: $30.9 million for nine projects
• Western New York: $11.4 million for three projects
• Finger Lakes: $9.5 million for four projects
• North Country: $9.4 million for three projects
• Southern Tier: $9.1 million for three projects
• Capital Region: $9 million for five projects
• Mohawk Valley: $7 million for four projects
• New York City: $7 million for one project
• Central New York: $1.9 million for two projects
• Long Island: $1.9 million for one project

Finger Lakes projects. The four awards in the Rochester region are (LongIsland.com):

• Village of Geneseo: $3.2 million for sidewalk construction along State Route 20A.
• Village of Newark: $2.9 million for new sidewalks and pedestrian improvements on North Main Street, including a crossing signal at Lincoln Elementary School.
• Village of Attica: $2 million for sidewalk construction and improvements on Prospect Street.
• Town of Brighton: $1.4 million to rehabilitate an off-road segment of the Lehigh Valley Trail and add signage, improving the connection to the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Lehigh Valley Trail is a multiple-use trail of about 22 miles that runs from the University of Rochester to the Brighton and Henrietta town line, then continues through Henrietta to the Rush and Mendon segment, with Brighton access points at East River Road and Crittenden Road (Town of Brighton).

Western New York projects. The three Western New York awards are (LongIsland.com):

• Town of Amherst: $7 million, the largest award allowed under the program, for a multi-use trail on the former New York Central Railroad corridor known as the Peanut Line.
• City of North Tonawanda: $2.7 million for sidewalk improvements around city schools.
• Town of West Seneca: $1.7 million for new sidewalks, curb ramps and crosswalks on Seneca Street and Ridge Road.

Amherst has been preparing the Peanut Line project for several years. A feasibility study commissioned by the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council was completed in 2025, and public input favored a fully off-road, paved trail along the former rail corridor (Town of Amherst). The town says the trail would run east to west through Amherst and link Clarence's trail network to the Ellicott Creek Trailway, which in turn connects to the Buffalo Erie Canalway Trail and the Buffalo and Erie County Riverwalk (Town of Amherst). The Town Board authorized the TAP application by resolution, and applications were due March 12, 2026 (Town of Amherst).

Central New York projects. The Village of Skaneateles received $734,421 to extend a sidewalk on East Lake Street and build an asphalt trail connection, and the Town of Manlius received $1.1 million for ADA-compliant sidewalks on Enders Road (LongIsland.com).

Largest awards elsewhere. Outside upstate's western half, the largest awards include $7 million to the New York City Department of Transportation for the reconstruction of Queens Boulevard between 73rd Street and Eliot Avenue, $6 million to the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson for downtown sidewalk replacement, $5.5 million to Lewis County for sidewalks in Beaver Falls, Port Leyden and Turin, $4.9 million to the City of Binghamton for the Clinton Street corridor, and $4.8 million to the Village of Larchmont for pedestrian, bicycle and accessibility upgrades (Office of the Governor). The Town of Dryden received $3 million for new and upgraded segments of the Dryden Rail Trail (Office of the Governor).

In the Capital Region, the Town of New Lebanon received $3.9 million and the Town of Salem $2.3 million for sidewalks along Route 22, and the Town of Malta received $672,400 for a shared-use path toward the planned Northway Eleven community center (Office of the Governor). In the Mohawk Valley, the Village of Boonville received $4.2 million for combined pedestrian, bicycle, trail and streetscape work, the Village of Clinton $840,000 for a 2,000-foot extension of the Chenango Canal Trail, and Herkimer County $527,200 for access improvements at the Acme Road entrance to the Empire State Trail (Office of the Governor).

How the Program Works

Under TAP, NYSDOT covers up to 80 percent of eligible project costs and sponsors must put up at least a 20 percent match (Office of the Governor). Individual awards in this round range from $500,000 to $7 million (Office of the Governor). Eligible costs include planning, design and engineering, right-of-way acquisition, construction and construction inspection, and projects must relate to the surface transportation system and provide full public access (Office of the Governor).

Wednesday's awards close out a funding round that the state opened in November 2025, when the Governor announced $97.4 million in available TAP funds for community-centered active transportation projects (CBS6 Albany). Eligible applicants in that solicitation included local governments, transit agencies, natural resource agencies and tribal governments, and applications were due March 12, 2026 (CBS6 Albany). Eligible project types included multi-use paths, safe routes to school and environmental mitigation, and selection weighed public benefit, cost-effectiveness and alignment with the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CBS6 Albany). Roughly seven months passed between the application deadline and today's selections.

Because the program pays for every phase from planning through inspection, a single award can turn into several separate contracts over time. Some sponsors, such as Amherst, already have feasibility work in hand (Town of Amherst), while others may still need to complete design before any construction can be bid.

What Is Not Yet Known

The release does not give construction start dates, completion dates or procurement schedules for any of the 35 projects (Office of the Governor). It also does not say which projects are ready for construction and which still need design or right-of-way work. Statements from local officials in the release refer to work that will begin but do not attach dates (Office of the Governor). This is a developing story, and schedules will come from each sponsoring municipality and from NYSDOT as agreements are executed.

What It Means for Owners and Contractors

For most commercial and industrial builders, these are not large jobs. The value is in volume and geography. Thirty-five funded projects, many of them in villages and towns that do not bid public work often, will need engineers, site and paving contractors, concrete flatwork crews, signal and electrical subcontractors, and inspection services over the next several years.

• Site and civil subcontractors in the Rochester and Finger Lakes market should note the four local awards. Geneseo, Newark and Attica are sidewalk-heavy jobs that fit concrete, curb, ADA ramp and drainage crews. The Newark project also includes a school crossing signal, which brings in electrical and signal work.
• Trail and earthwork contractors should watch the Brighton Lehigh Valley Trail rehabilitation and, in Western New York, the $7 million Amherst Peanut Line trail, the largest award in the region. Rail-corridor trails typically involve clearing, grading, drainage, paving and crossing work.
• Owners and developers with property near funded corridors, such as Route 20A in Geneseo, North Main Street in Newark, or Seneca Street and Ridge Road in West Seneca, should expect sidewalk and crossing work in the public right-of-way and may want to coordinate access, driveway and utility work with the sponsoring municipality.
• Bidders new to federal-aid work should read each solicitation closely. Because the money originates with the Federal Highway Administration (Office of the Governor), contracts may carry federal and NYSDOT requirements that differ from a typical private commercial job.
• The local match matters. Each sponsor must fund at least 20 percent of eligible costs (Office of the Governor), so municipal budgets and capital votes may shape how quickly projects reach bid.

What to Watch

• Town and village board agendas in Geneseo, Newark, Attica, Brighton, Amherst, North Tonawanda and West Seneca for resolutions accepting the awards, approving local matches and hiring design consultants.
• Requests for qualifications for engineering and design services, which usually come before construction bids on federally funded local projects.
• Construction bid notices for projects that already have design work completed.
• Updates from Amherst on the Peanut Line, which the town has tracked through public meetings and a dedicated project page (Town of Amherst).

Image credit: Emily Wassmansdorf on Unsplash. Free-license photo of an active transportation path; not a photo of a funded project.

Sources

• New York State Office of the Governor via EIN Presswire, "$97M to Support Environmental Friendly Travel": https://www.einpresswire.com/article/949609776/97m-to-support-environmental-friendly-travel
• LongIsland.com, "Governor Hochul Announces More Than $97 Million To Support Improvements To Alternative Transportation Options In Local Communities": https://www.longisland.com/news/10-14-26/governor-hochul-announces-more-than-97-million-to-support-improvements-to-alternative-transportation-options-in-local-communities.html
• Town of Amherst, "'Peanut Line' Multi-Use Trail Project": https://www.amherst.ny.us/content/projects.php?dept_id=dept_15&proj_id=proj_03&neworder=00
• CBS6 Albany, "Governor Hochul announces $97.4M to boost NY's community transportation projects": https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/governor-hochul-announces-974m-to-boost-nys-community-transportation-projects-nysdot-jeremy-cooney-marie-therese-dominguez-cbs6-wrgb
• Town of Brighton, "Lehigh Valley Trail": https://brightonny.gov/263/Lehigh-Valley-Trail