More than $1.2 billion in funding announced by President Joe Biden and the Department of Transportation will go to the Appalachian Development Highway System in order to complete corridors in 11 Appalachian states.

In a release Jan. 25, the DOT said Biden’s infrastructure law will increase annual funding 146%, allowing for the corridors to be completed on time so the historically isolated communities in the Appalachian region could be more connected.

“From big cities to small towns, every American community deserves reliable access to our transportation system,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we now have historic resources to improve transportation and create jobs for people in Appalachia, and around the country.”

The total amount that will be available to the states in Fiscal Year 2022 is set at $246 million, according to the release. ADHS was started in 1965 in order to connect rural Appalachian regions to the interstates that frequently bypassed the communities. A network of 33 corridors, the system is comprised of 3,000 miles of roads that link the region to interstates and provide access to regional and national markets. 

While only 85% of the system is currently completed, the increase in funding is set to allow for a completion of the corridors by 2040, the release states.

Once complete, estimates state the ADHS will save commuters 231 million driving hours per year, create more than 168,000 jobs and add $9 billion to the region's gross regional product, the release states.