On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it was accepting applications for $5.1 billion in discretionary grants programs.
The grants for regionally or nationally significant infrastructure projects would come from three major discretionary grant programs, but the application process would come from a single, streamlined Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program (MPDG) opportunity, officials said.
“Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, today we are making over $5 billion available for major infrastructure projects that benefit the economy and quality of life of entire regions of America, from our biggest cities to our most rural areas,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “This will support major infrastructure projects that so large, complex, and ambitious that they could not get funded under the infrastructure programs that existed prior to this administration.”
More than $1.7 billion in funding in available from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) Program that invests in large, complex projects that are difficult to fund by mean other than federal grants, and are likely to generate national or regional benefits – such as projects for highways, bridges, ports or public transportation projects.
Another $2.7 billion will be available through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding American (INFRA) program that awards competitive grants to multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve safety, accessibility, efficiency and reliability of transportation across urban and rural areas.
And the department will make $780 million available for the Rural Surface Transportation Grant (Rural) program that will fund projects dedicated specifically to rural areas, like highway, bridge or tunnel projects that help improve transportation or transportation facilities that support a rural economic area.
“Today’s announcement of over $5 billion will fund transformative infrastructure projects that unlock opportunities for communities across the country while creating good-paying jobs and boosting economic competitiveness,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said. “This announcement is part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, which is building a safe, efficient, and reliable transportation system nationwide.”