As part of the infrastructure law, $2.2 billion in grants were recently awarded across the country for projects to upgrade roads and bridges and other transportation projects.
The law calls for providing $7.5 billion over five years for the RAISE grant program. RAISE stands for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity.
The projects will receive grants of various amounts, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The funding is split in half between rural and urban projects. USDOT says 70% of the projects are in poor or disadvantaged communities. Along with roads and bridges, projects include transit, rail, ports and intermodal transportation.
"Using the funds in President Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more.”
Highlight projects
USDOT highlighted the following projects receiving grants:
- Orangeburg, South Carolina: $23 million to build a pedestrian bridge and a multi-modal transit hub to better connect neighborhoods and college campuses to downtown.
- Chula Vista, California: $21.5 million to eliminate a rail crossing that causes frequent delays for drivers and been the site of 85 crashes over a 10-year period. Project also separates Palomar Street from the rail corridor, making it safer for people who walk, bike, and roll.
- Iowa: $24.7 million to replace up to nine bridges in poor condition in rural counties. Some bridges are weight-restricted and currently force detours for both residents and commercial truck drivers.
- Eudora, Kansas: $21 million to fix Church Street between 20th and 28th streets near schools, converting a two-lane road into three lanes with a center turn lane and new shared-use paths. Also realigns an intersection, installs a roundabout and adds new stormwater infrastructure.
- Jackson, Kentucky: $21 million to make improvements to KY 15, the main artery through town, and strengthen an earthen dam that helps protect community from catastrophic flooding. Jackson was the site of historic, deadly flooding in recent years.
- New Orleans, Louisiana: $24.8 million to construct the Downtown Transit Center for the city’s bus and streetcar network and make safety improvements at intersections with a history of pedestrian-involved crashes.
- North Bergen, New Jersey: $25 million to relocate and construct a new, approximately 100-foot road bridge to carry Tonnelle Avenue over a new railroad right-of-way for the new Hudson River Trunnel in North Bergen.
- Standing Rock, South Dakota: $18.5 million to resurface BIA 6 on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, addressing a road with higher-than-average roadway injuries and deaths.
- Caldwell County, Texas: $22.9 million to design and construct a truck parking plaza that improves safety and convenience for truck drivers. Plaza will include short- and long-term spaces with lighting, fencing, restroom and shower facilities, with 24-hour monitored security.
The full list of projects can be viewed here.
