The Atlanta Regional Commission announced today that it has received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s PROTECT Grant program that will be used to develop a regional Resilience Improvement Plan.
The plan, the first of its kind for metro Atlanta, will identify areas in the region’s transportation system that are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards influenced by climate change, such as flooding, extreme temperatures, and drought, and recommend specific mitigation measures. The findings will guide strategic planning and transportation investments across the Atlanta Metropolitan Planning Organization, which covers 20 counties.
ARC will develop the plan in close collaboration with local governments and other community partners, with a robust public engagement process. The 18-month project is expected to begin in early 2025.
The Resilience Improvement Plan is part of ARC’s growing Climate Change & Resilience program, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, support access to clean energy, and develop capacity in local governments to take action.
The Regional Resilience Plan will identify short- and long-term investments designed to build climate resilience. Short-term solutions may include retrofitting roads, bridges, and other existing infrastructure. Long-term measures may include changes to design standards for infrastructure like bridges and stormwater management systems to account for larger flood events.
Resilience measures will be recommended based on factors that include feasibility, applicability to regional conditions, ease of implementation, and cost-effectiveness. Once the plan is complete, local governments that apply for federal PROTECT resilience grants to build to retrofit infrastructure will be eligible to have their required local match contributions reduced from 20% to as low as 10%.