On Friday, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced nearly $5 billion in grants for more than 560 projects in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories through seven programs funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
Under the BIL, the funding will be allotted through the following programs: the Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, the Restoration and Enhancement Grants Program, the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Program, the Airport Infrastructure Grants Program, the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (Rural) and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program.
This funding will support state and locally led projects of all kinds, adding to the more than 72,000 BIL funded projects currently moving forward nationwide and the pipeline of projects that will be delivered in the coming years and decades.
Today’s awards announcements will:
- Improve passenger and freight rail safety and strengthen supply chains across 41 states with $1.1 billion in funding for 123 highway-rail and pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects.
- Reconnect communities that were cut off by past transportation infrastructure decisions with $544 million in funding for 81 projects in 31 states focused on restoring access to employment, education, healthcare, recreation and fostering equitable development for under resourced communities.
- Invest in surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impacts with $1.3 billion in funding for 109 projects through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program.
- Improve and expand surface transportation infrastructure in rural communities with $785 million in funding for 24 projects designed to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of the movement of people and freight and generate local and regional economic growth.
- Continue expanding zero-emission EV Charging and refueling infrastructure nationwide with $635 million in funding for 49 projects that will deploy more than 11,500 EV charging ports and hydrogen and natural gas fueling infrastructure along corridors and in communities across 27 states, four federally recognized tribes and the District of Columbia.
In a statement, Buttigieg spoke about the funding—one of the last rounds of grants to be announced by the administration.
“Though the Biden-Harris Administration is drawing to a close, today we’re proud to announce one more major round of grants to keep that work going and further modernize our roads and rails, build out a national EV charger network, and ensure that transportation in the 21st century lives up to its basic promise and connects more communities across our nation.” Buttigieg said.
Source: The U.S. Department of Transportation
