Muscatine, Iowa, to receive EPA assistance through Greening America’s Communities program

Muscatine, Iowa, will receive assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to redesign a former highway into a bikable city street through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2016 Greening America’s Communities (GAC) program.

Muscatine is joined by five other cities across the United States, all of which will receive EPA technical assistance in the form of a design team that will help them plan and implement environmentally friendly projects to improve their communities.

“EPA is excited to roll up our sleeves and start working with the next round of cities through Greening America’s Communities,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said. “This program is another example of EPA making a visible difference in communities — helping build healthy, vibrant neighborhoods and stronger local economies centered on environmental sustainability.”

In Muscatine, the EPA-provided design team will help the city redesign former U.S. Highway 61/Iowa Highway 92, which came under the city’s jurisdiction in 2014. Now known as Grandview Avenue, Muscatine’s planned Grandview Avenue Corridor Project will use EPA assistance to create a safe gateway into the city’s downtown area, making the street accessible for cars and bicycles.

The other cities selected for the EPA’s 2016 GAC Program include: Columbia, South Carolina; Brownsville, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Multnomah County, Oregon.