Baton Rouge has been selected as one of five cities to receive assistance for its proposed “Downtown Greenway” through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greening America’s Capitals program.

The downtown greenway is a network of pedestrian and bicycle paths that will link downtown Baton Rouge to LSU, connecting seven BREC parks and the levee bike path along the way.

The EPA’s website states that the purpose of the Greening America’s Capitals program is to “help state capitals develop an implementable vision of distinctive, environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green building and green infrastructure strategies.”

Designers will visit Baton Rouge in October or November to help lay out the greenway’s design and help the city learn how to effectively use areas under the interstate and improve lighting, architecture and aesthetics around the greenway, said Davis Rhorer, Downtown Development District executive director.

“What they will do is bring in a team of design professionals and start the process, referred to as schematic design, for the greenway at no cost to us,” Rhorer said.

The design team will also assist the city in developing implementation strategies for the discussed designs, according to the EPA’s website.

Rhorer said that schematic design, which involves looking at images of how the greenway will work, is the first step in a three-step project like the greenway. The next step, design development, is where the city will take over the project, he said. The remainder of the project will be funded in part by $3 million in grant money already attained by the DDD.

Rhorer said the design team being deployed by the EPA is estimated at about a $50,000 to $100,000 value — a considerable chunk of money the city will not have to spend on the project.

The Greening America’s Capitals program is a project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between the EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The other cities chosen for the grant include Indianapolis, Ind., Des Moines, Iowa, Helena, Mont. and Frankfort, Ky.