U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) announced Wednesday that Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute would receive $6,125,000 in grant funding.
The grant from the National Center for Excellence for Rural Road Safety will provide funding for the rural roads in the state, the senator said.
“Montana’s roads and bridges have been long overdue for a serious upgrade, and this funding, along with my bipartisan infrastructure law, will ensure that travel in rural Montana will be safer for years to come,” said Tester. “Montana families and businesses rely on our highways and interstate system to move across our large state, and this is a great step towards guaranteeing that folks can travel or haul goods safely and efficiently.”
The funding is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Tester was the only Montana Congressional Delegation member to vote for. The legislation will also provide $2.82 billion in road, highway, and bridge funding, up to $100 million for the Milk River Project, and $1 billion to complete all authorized rural water projects through the Bureau of Reclamation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Center for Excellence for Rural Road Safety promotes and supports strategic surface transportation programs and activities relating to the work of state departments of transportation in the areas of the environment, surface transportation safety, rural safety, and project finance.