A $23.5 million federal safety grant will pay for sidewalks, turn lanes and piped drainage on Tharpe Street from Ocala Road to Mission Road. Construction is expected in 2030.
Tharpe Street is getting $23.5 million in federal money to add sidewalks, turn lanes and piped drainage on a stretch in northwest Tallahassee. Construction is expected to start in 2030.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award Friday. It comes from the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program, the city said in a news release.
The money goes to Blueprint, the joint city and Leon County infrastructure agency.
What the grant pays for
The award covers design and construction of Segment 1, from Ocala Road to Mission Road. It also pays for an intersection safety project on Tharpe Street that the city will carry out.
According to the city, the work will:
- build sidewalks along a corridor where most of the road has none today
- add turn lanes so drivers waiting to turn no longer block traffic behind them
- replace open ditches with a piped drainage system
- install sensors that send automatic crash alerts to the city’s Regional Traffic Management Center
The crash alert system will cover the Tharpe Street corridor and selected nearby intersections. The city said it was “critical to the success” of the application.
The wider plan
Segment 1 is the first piece of the Northwest Connector Corridor. That project covers about 2.6 miles of Tharpe Street, from Ocala Road to Capital Circle Northwest. The city said it will improve access to Tower Road Park and Stoneler Road County Park.
Blueprint will work out the grant agreement with the federal government in the coming months, the city said. The 2030 start is seven years earlier than the corridor would otherwise have been built.
“This project delivers what our residents have asked for, a safer Tharpe Street,” said Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Richardson, who chairs Blueprint’s Intergovernmental Agency Board. “With an initial investment of $9 million, Blueprint staff leveraged an additional $23.5 million in federal funding to deliver this critical project for our community.”
Third award from the same program
This is the third time the Safe Streets and Roads for All program has funded a Blueprint project, according to the city:
| Project | Year | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Gaither pedestrian safety | 2024 | $9.6 million |
| North Monroe Street | December 2025 | $16.8 million |
| Tharpe Street | October 2026 | $23.5 million |
Together the three awards come to $49.9 million.
What it means for you
Nothing changes on Tharpe Street yet. The grant agreement still has to be signed, and construction is not expected until 2030.
When it is built, people walking along Tharpe between Ocala Road and Mission Road should have a sidewalk for most of the way. Drivers should see fewer backups behind cars waiting to turn.
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