Streetscape grants from Royal Oak’s WA3 help unify Woodward Corridor

Five cities and communities with Woodward Avenue as their spine now have money to spend on projects to make their street fronts more appealing, inviting and useful.

The money, $53,000 split among them, comes from the Woodward Avenue Action Association (WA3) via Federal Highway Administration Scenic Byway funds. WA3, a Royal Oak-based economic and community development organization with the mission of improving the visual, economic, function and historical character of the 27-mile long avenue, hands out the grants as part of its Streetscape Grant Program.

The 2010 recipients run from Detroit north through Oakland County and up to Berkley. In 2009, WA3 awarded $118,000 in mini grants.

“We’re looking for areas that can enhance Woodward as an entire corridor and also help communities fulfill their individual goals,” says Heather Carmona, executive director of WA3. The projects are not only aesthetic but practical, she says.

And the added bonus is that the grants bring federal tax dollars back home. Woodward Avenue, a history-rich and storied thruway, is designated an All-American Road, making it eligible for the funding.

The allocations were:

• City of Berkley – $8,000 for median improvements
• Ferndale Downtown Development Authority – $10,000 for Wayfinding Kiosks, high-tech, outdoor directories
• Arden Park-East Boston Historic District – $7,000 for historic entry grates
• The Park District (between 6 and 8 Mile roads) – $5,000 for beautification
• South Oakland county – $13,000 for median improvements

The program provides a simplified process to generate physical improvements for Woodward as a connected region by celebrating and promoting the byway and the communities it runs through.

Source: Heather Carmona, executive director, Woodward Avenue Action Association
Writer: Kim North Shine