DOT Secretary Chao Announces Infrastructure Grants

Department Proposes $856 Million in INFRA Grants.
 
The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced $855,950,000 in proposed grants through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program.
 
“This significant federal investment will improve major highways, bridges, ports, and railroads around the country to better connect our communities, and to enhance safety and economic growth,” said Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
 
INFRA discretionary grants support the Administration’s commitment to fixing our nation’s infrastructure by creating opportunities for all levels of government and the private sector to fund infrastructure, using innovative approaches to improve the processes for building significant projects, and increasing accountability for the projects that are built. In addition to providing direct federal funding, the INFRA discretionary grant program aims to increase the total investment by state, local, and private partners.
 
INFRA advances a grant program established in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and utilizes updated criteria for evaluating projects to align them with national and regional economic vitality goals.  The program increases the impact of projects by leveraging federal grant funding and incentivizing project sponsors to pursue innovative strategies, including public-private partnerships.
 
Additionally, the new program promotes the incorporation of innovative technology that will improve our transportation system.  INFRA will also hold recipients accountable for their performance in project delivery and operations.
 
The Department is proposing awards under the INFRA discretionary grant program to both large and small projects.  For a large project, the INFRA grant must be at least $25 million.  For a small project, the grant must be at least $5 million.  For each fiscal year of INFRA funds, 10 percent of available funds are reserved for small projects. The INFRA discretionary grant program also preserves the statutory requirement in the FAST Act to award at least 25 percent of funding for rural projects.
 
Large maritime-releated projects include:

• The Alabama Department of Transportation will be awarded $125 million to construct a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge with more than 215 feet of vertical clearance to carry I-10 across the Mobile River channel.
• The Maryland Department of Transportation will be awarded $125 million to raise the vertical clearance of the Howard Street Tunnel, Baltimore, to facilitate movement of double-stack trains on an important freight rail corridor.

 
Small maritime projects include:

• PortMiami will be awarded $8.04 million to rehabilitate and create new capacity on the Seaboard Marine Terminal.