Valley Transit will reapply for $25 million in grants for new Appleton Transit Center

Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent
·2 min read
A conceptual rendering of the new Appleton Transit Center shows the bus station on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.
A conceptual rendering of the new Appleton Transit Center shows the bus station on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.

Reader question: Did Valley Transit get any of the federal grants it sought for the replacement of the downtown Appleton Transit Center?

Answer: Valley Transit applied for two distinct $25 million grants earlier this year to help pay for a downtown development that would house a new drive-through transit center on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.

One grant was through the Federal Transit Administration's Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. The other was through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program. Each required a 20% local match. The hope was that one of the two applications would be successful.

Unfortunately, neither was approved. Valley Transit will regroup and reapply for the next round of grants.

Ron McDonald, general manager of Valley Transit, said the grant application process was highly competitive.

"Most people don't get it on their first attempt," he said.

For the RAISE program, about 1,100 grant applications were submitted, 347 advanced to the office of U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and 162 received funding.

Valley Transit's application was among the 347 that reached Buttigieg's office for review.

Watchdog Q&A: Duke Behnke answers your local government questions

McDonald said Valley Transit had discussions with program officials about how to improve its application going forward.

"They did call out some of the things on the project that they thought were very innovative," he said. "They really appreciated the joint development portion of it where the developer would pay the local share, so the municipalities wouldn't be charged with that."

The next application process will open in the fall, and the grants will be awarded in June.

"We anticipate going back at it again with some lessons learned from this go-around," McDonald said. "It's a very highly competitive process, but we remain confident we've got a good project."

The replacement of the Appleton Transit Center at 100 E. Washington St. is dependent on grant funding. If a grant is secured next year, construction could begin in 2026 and be completed in early 2028.

The Transit Center was built in 1989. McDonald said it is undersized and outdated for accessibility, safety and security. It was the scene of a fatal shooting in May 2019.

Construction of a new transit center would be part of an ongoing transformation of Appleton's College North Neighborhood. Other projects include the $40.4 million renovation and expansion of the Appleton Public Library and construction of the Urbane 115 mixed-use complex.

Post-Crescent reporter Duke Behnke answers your questions about local government. Send questions to dbehnke@gannett.com or call him at 920-993-7176.

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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Valley Transit will reapply for grants for new Appleton Transit Center