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portion (up to 80 percent of total expenditures) of those expenditures for the project. Minnesota has established an Agency Account to facilitate use of federal highway funds by agencies other than the Minnesota Department of Transportation. This Agency Account functions as a pool of money from which expenditures for project costs are initial]), made. The pool is then reimbursed with federal funds. Without access to this pool of funds in the Agency Account, project proposers would need to individually front end the entire cost of a project's estimated cost instead of only the local share. The State Attorney General has ruled that only cities over 5,000 population, counties and state agencies may use the Agency Account. 5. Projects with an estimated total cost of at least $50,000. Discussion...There are significant federal project processing requirements that come with federal funds. These requirements translate into expenditures of time and money on the parts of both the agency proposing/developing the project and the state agency administering the federal funds for the project. Project proposers can "bundle" projects together to meet this minimum. For instance bundled projects could consist of signing and lighting a number of bike trails in several counties. Communities may want to consider using joint powers agreements for implementing bundled projects. 6. Projects with a demonstrated relationship to transportation. Discussion..,The IS'lEA requires that Enhancements projects be related to · transportation. The FHWA memorandum providing interim guidance states: "The definition of transportation enhancement activities includes the phrase, with respect to any project or the area served by the project. Given its overall context, we interpret this phrase to mean that the proposed transportation enhancement activity must have a direct relationship to the intermodal transportation system, but not necessarily to a currently planned highway project. This relationship may be one of function, proximity, or impact. For example, an independent bike path is a functional component of the intermodal transportation system. Removal of outdoor advertising in the viewshed of a highway is justified in light of its proximity. Retrofitting an existing highway by creating a wetland to filter runoff from the highway would qualify based on the impact of the highway in terms of water pollution. Once a relationship to the intermodal transportation system is established, transportation enhancement activities can be implemented in a variety of ways. They can be developed as parts of larger transportation projects, as parts of larger joint development projects, or as stand-alone projects."