Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program

Sandy Williams and Community Connection

The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program (SWCCP) was established to improve active transportation connectivity for people walking, biking, and rolling along and across current and former state highways. The program focuses on communities with high equity needs, which are those most affected by barriers to opportunity and environmental health disparities.

The SWCCP can fund any project phase from planning through construction. Projects such as active transportation planning studies, sidewalks, shared use paths, crossings and neighborhood greenways.

The program name honors Sandy Williams, a community activist who worked to reconnect her African American neighborhood after the construction of Interstate 90 through Spokane split it in half. You can learn more about Sandy Williams and the journey to creating the SWCCP in our online storymap .

As part of the Move Ahead Washington transportation package approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Inslee in March 2022, $50 million was allocated toward SWCCP over five years to:

• Repair transportation inequities by directing investments to low-wealth and disinvested communities as well as those overburdened by environmental hazards
• Improve access to community destinations and services
• Provide contracting opportunities for People of Color, women-owned businesses and community-based organizations

Once awarded, SWCCP funds can be leveraged as local match funding for federal funds including RAISE grants, Safe Streets for All grants, Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program grants, and WSDOT-administered federal funding sources. Additionally, funds can bring resources to projects where state agencies such as the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB), regional, or local funding cannot fully meet needs. 

Can we be selected for a grant?

We are currently putting our energy into developing program processes that center community needs, and making program improvements that will benefit grantees and the program's long-term sustainability. We plan to open the process in fall of 2024. 

Program funding

The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program is wholly supported by funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health.

In its first two years, SWCCP dedicated $25 million to 25 projects across the state and launched the program. Once awarded, SWCCP funds can be leveraged as local match funding for federal funds including RAISE grants, Safe Streets for All grants, Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program grants, and WSDOT-administered federal funding sources. Additionally, funds can bring resources to projects where state agencies such as the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB), regional, or local funding cannot fully meet needs.

Project funding can support planning, design and construction of projects statewide with award amounts of approximately $200,000 to $2 million per project.

Important dates

November 2024: WSDOT identifies selected grantees.
December 2024: Legislative report identifying projects to support is due.

Glossary

Census block group

Census blocks, the smallest geographic area for which the Bureau of the Census collects and tabulates decennial census data, are formed by streets, roads, railroads, streams and other bodies of water, other visible physical and cultural features, and the legal boundaries shown on Census Bureau maps. Census data for these areas serve as a valuable source for small-area geographic studies.

Environmental justice

As defined by the state, means the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, rules, and policies. Environmental justice includes addressing disproportionate environmental and health impacts in all laws, rules, and policies with environmental impacts by prioritizing vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, the equitable distribution of resources and benefits, and eliminating harm.

Selection process

The program selects projects in locations prioritized based on legislative requirements; no grant applications are required. To identify projects, WSDOT uses public input gathered through local planning efforts and focused on communities with high equity needs.

WSDOT used publicly available data to map state highways located in communities experiencing high equity needs and tribal areas to determine eligibility. Use the following link to explore the High Equity Needs Map.

Factors used to determine equity need include:

• Transportation: those with high transportation costs and no access to a vehicle.
• Health: residents with few healthy food choices, and disproportionate health outcomes
• Economics: those living on low incomes
• Family and Community: Youth and Seniors, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Communities, those with limited English skills, people with disabilities
• Environmental Justice: communities with disproportionate exposure to pollutants, diesel pollution and industrial contaminants

Each Census Block Group received a score based on these factors, and the resulting scores were summed to create the final High Equity Need Score. On the map, areas with a final score of 18 or above have the highest need; a score of 14-17 have high need; and a score of 10-13 have moderate need.

Communities that fall within Highest and High Equity Need are the primary focus of the program.

Project prioritization

Projects are prioritized based on multiple factors:

• Level of equity need in the community
• Potential of project to increase safety for people walking, biking and rolling
• Documented community support for a project
• How the project contributes to geographic diversity statewide.
• How the project will connect people to resources, like educational opportunities, transit, health centers or the grocery store.
• How the project will contribute resources to the community through partnerships with community-based organizations and equitable contracting opportunities

Community partnerships

The Grant looks to support community identified projects that employ a robust and ongoing engagement process through all stages of the project. Establishing key partnerships early in the planning process will help you proactively identify potential community collaboration for your project.

Awards

The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program distributed $21,611,000 to 26 projects statewide.

Year One projects

Climate Commitment Act

The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and -invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.