U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy awarded nearly $500 million in infrastructure improvement grants Tuesday.
The grants, part of the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, will help fund 30 critical roadway, transit, rail, maritime and aviation infrastructure improvements to improve safety, reduce congestion and spur economic growth. The BUILD program, previously known as the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grants established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provides state and local governments to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional surface transportation infrastructure projects that may be more difficult to fund through other grant programs.
“Under President Trump, America is building again,” Duffy said. “From making families safer on our roads to expanding our ports, these grant selections reflect our commitment to unleashing America’s full potential with envy-of-the-world infrastructure. We will continue to move quickly to get money out the door to get dirt moving.”
The program awarded $488 million in grants to 30 projects nationwide including, $25 million for the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) for expanding trucking parking in Cabell, Monongalia, and Berkeley counties along I-81, I-64, and I-79; $2 million for the Snohomish County Everett Intermodal Yard and Curve Improvements in Snohomish County, Washington for upgrades to the Snohomish County Everett Intermodal Yard rail infrastructure; and $12,800 for the city of Johns Creek, Georgia, for the design and replacement of the Old Alabama Road bridges over the Chattahoochee Tributary and Johns Creek.
Officials with DOT said roads and bridges received more than three quarters (77 percent) of the funding, and that 10 percent of the grants were awarded to transit upgrades to deliver safe, reliable and accessible commuter networks. Waterway projects received more than $25 million, primarily for port improvements, and rail networks received nearly $3 million to enhance multimodal surface transportation.
The program received more than 800 applications requesting more than $10 billion which was “evenly distributed” between urban and rural communities – with each sector receiving $244 million in awards. Projects were selected based on safety, project readiness, and cost effectiveness, the DOT said.