08-02-19 | Legislation

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Announces Infrastructure Investment

$856 Million In Grants to be Awarded

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao has announced $855,950,000 in proposed grants through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program.

"This significant federal investment will improve major highways, bridges, ports, and railroads around the country to better connect our communities, and to enhance safety and economic growth," said the secretary.

INFRA advances a grant program established in the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and utilizes updated criteria for evaluating projects to align them with national and regional economic vitality goals.

The Department is proposing awards under the INFRA discretionary grant program to both large and small projects. For large projects, the INFRA grant must be at least $25 million. For small projects, the grant must be at least $5 million. The INFRA discretionary grant program will also award at least 25 percent of funding for rural projects.

Among the list of proposed awards:
Large projects:
The Alabama Department of Transportation will be awarded $125 million to construct a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge with more than 215 feet of vertical clearance to carry I-10 across the Mobile River channel.
The Arizona Department of Transportation will be awarded $90 million to add capacity on a rural, mountainous stretch of I-17 north of Phoenix.
The City of Temecula, California, will be awarded $50 million to construct a two-lane northbound collector/distributor system along I-15.
Space Florida will be awarded $90 million to replace the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Indian River Bridge with new twin high-level bridges, to allow transportation of oversized vehicles to launch sites.

Small projects:
The City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will be awarded $6.87 million to replace the University Boulevard/US82 Overpass Bridge.
Cobb County, Georgia, will be awarded $5 million for the construction of a 24-foot-wide reversible ramp providing direct access to the I-75 Managed Lanes system.
The Colorado DOT will be awarded $8.297 million to add approximately 12 miles of passing lanes along US 287 in rural southeastern Colorado.
The North Central Council of Governments and Texas DOT will be awarded $8.775 million for a series of 7 projects involving 7 bridges in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

To view more proposed awards, click here: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/4519.