On Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that more than $4.2 billion in funding will be invested in American infrastructure through two grant programs.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the funding would flow through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. Both of the programs are at historic funding levels, officials said, thanks to increases in funding as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The US DOT said 44 projects were selected to receive grants in the latest round of funding, including projects that improve safety and economic competitiveness, construct major bridges, expand port capacity, and redesign interchanges. Three projects received awards from both programs and further the USDOT’s commitment to invest in non-traditional, multimodal projects that have faced funding challenges in the past.
“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris administration is carrying out ambitious, complex transportation projects that will shape our country’s infrastructure for generations to come,” Buttigieg said. “With this latest round of awards, dozens of major and much-needed projects – projects that are often difficult to fund through other means – are getting the long-awaited investments they need to move forward.”
Included in the Mega grant program were 11 projects totaling $1.68 billion. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will receive $472.34 million to replace Draw 1 a 92-year-old bridge linking Amtrak’s Downeaster intercity passenger rail service and four separate MBTA regional rail lines to North Station as part of the North Station Renovation and Draw 1 Bridge Replacement project. The bridge serves as a primary portal for more than 1,100 passenger trains each week into North Station, the fifth largest transit station in the New England region.
Additionally, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority will receive $217.2 million for the SouthPort Berth Phase 2 project that will add capacity at the Southport terminal by providing an estimated 10 additional acres to the Phase 1 berth development and adding a second berth downriver; and the Iowa Department of Transportation will receive $68.6 million for the Southwest Mixmaster Interchange Reconstruction Project that will reconstruct the I-35/80/235 interchange.
Thirty-six projects will receive more than $2.58 billion in funding as part of the INFRA program, officials said. Those projects include $196 million to the Michigan Department of Transportation to replace the deteriorating River Raisin Bridge on I-75 as part of the River Raisin Bridge and Interstate 75 Revitalization project. Another $86.6 million was awarded to the Mississippi Department of Transportation to update seven bridge structures and repair an additional 19 bridge structure as part of the Improvements to I-20/I-55 Freight Corridor program. And the Florida Department of Transportation will receive $66.5 million for the U.S. 1/SR 5 Long Key Bridge Replacement program to replace the current 40-year-old Long Key Bridge – a critical part of the supply chain and emergency evacuation routes for the Florida Keys.
Officials said since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, INFRA and Mega programs have funded nearly 140 projects across 42 state, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, totaling nearly $12.8 billion, including 35 large bridge projects, 18 large port project, 20 rail projects and 85 highway improvement projects.