U.S. Reps. John Rutherford and Aaron Bean said they remain supporters of the Emerald Trail in Jacksonville and will work to secure federal dollars for it after the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” zeroed out grants for the trail and dozens of similar projects nationwide.
“We’re not through with this,” Rutherford said this week.
He said the best way to get federal dollars would be to repackage the application by focusing on economic development benefits from the Emerald Trail and “go after smaller bites of the apple over multiple cycles.”
“I think that’s the way we get to where we want Jacksonville to be,” he said. “I look forward to working with the mayor and others on the project.”
Bean said he met with his congressional team this week and talked to Rutherford about other options for getting federal grants. He said he will be an ally of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, which is the lead agency locally in building the Emerald Trail.
“Despite the clawback of unspent funding, JTA’s vision is far from over,” Bean said. “I will work with JTA once again to support their efforts in the coming year as new grant opportunities become available.”
Bean and Rutherford, whose congressional districts cover Jacksonville, voted with other Republicans in the U.S. House for the massive bill containing the core of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
One part of the bill scrapped a U.S. Department of Transportation program called the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program that awarded the $147 million grant for the Emerald Trail during President Joe Biden’s term.
Rutherford said that provision in the bill rescinded $3.1 billion for 78 of the projects that had received awards but did not yet have the funding obligated to them in the federal budget.
Rutherford said while he supported the money for the Emerald Trail, it was one part of what President Donald Trump called the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
“The operative word in this bill is ‘Big,'” Rutherford said. “It’s so big that you have to weigh the costs and the benefits, and the benefits far outweigh the costs.”
“Getting our country economically back on sound growth footing, securing our Southern border, gaining energy independence — all those take precedence over one program,” he said.
As for where Jacksonville can apply next for grants, Rutherford said it might not be through the U.S. Department of Transportation where Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously directed a review of all Biden-era grants that involved construction of shared-used paths for bicycling.
Rutherford said the better argument would be to show how building the Emerald Trail can spin off jobs and business growth along it.
He pointed to the flood-control work on McCoys Creek, which is part of the Emerald Trail network, as an example of how the trail can remove barriers to economic growth.
Rutherford, a former sheriff, said he “used to ride that beat and I remember how every time it rained, it flooded and cars got washed away.”
“That’s an amazing transformation that has taken place over there,” he said. “So I think there are some good economic points that can be made about the project.”
Mayor Donna Deegan, JTA and Groundwork Jacksonville, a nonprofit working on the Emerald Trail, all said this week the city will will reapply for federal grants by highlighting the economic development benefits of the Emerald Trail.
JTA and Groundwork Jacksonville said existing funding will enable work to go forward on additional segments of the trail while seeking funding to complete the entire 30-mile network.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ‘Not through with this’: Rutherford and Bean say Emerald Trail merits federal support
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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