The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced Wednesday that it will provide $52.5 billion in federal funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The department said that the apportionment for Fiscal Year 2022 reflects a 20 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2021 and is the largest apportionment the FHWA has made in decades.
“We are committed to delivering on the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and putting people to work modernizing our infrastructure and making it safer, more sustainable, and more efficient,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The USDOT and the FHWA said the additional funding under the Highway Infrastructure Program and discretionary funding will address overdue needs for American roads, bridges, and highways and help reduce the backlog of repairs they face.
Additional funding in 2022 will contribute to fixing up to 10 of the most economically significant bridges in the country, and repairing over 15,000 smaller bridges across the country; reconnecting as many as 20 communities by removing portions of interstates and redesigning rural main streets, and investing in the creation of a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030.
“Providing states with information on their apportioned funds today is an important first step in using the resources provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make transportation systems across the country safer and more resilient,” said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “We look forward to working with transportation agencies and the communities they serve to use these resources to build a better America.”