U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded more than $2.2 billion from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program to help urban and rural communities move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, and intermodal transportation and make our transportation systems safer, more accessible, more affordable, and more sustainable. This year’s allocations include more than $2.2 billion thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the program to help meet the strong demand to help projects get moving across the country.

“We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America’s transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible, and more sustainable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this year we are supporting more projects than ever before.”

Projects were evaluated on several criteria, including safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, economic competitiveness and opportunity, partnership and collaboration, innovation, state of good repair, and mobility and community connectivity. Within these areas, the Department considered how projects will improve accessibility for all travelers, bolster supply chain efficiency, and support racial equity and economic growth – especially in historically disadvantaged communities and areas of persistent poverty.

Today, Secretary Buttigieg is in Tucson and Phoenix where he is visiting two projects that are receiving RAISE awards. Later this month the Secretary and other senior USDOT officials will fan out across the country to visit additional sites that are receiving RAISE awards to highlight the ways that the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping invest in communities and get important infrastructure projects moving in communities large and small. 

Listed below are examples of projects that are representative of the overall grants that were awarded:

•    22nd Street Revitalization Project: In Tucson, AZ, USDOT is investing in boosting the local economy. The project will revitalize 22nd Street through replacing an existing bridge in poor condition with a new bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and expanding 22nd Street from four lanes to six lanes with a divided median. The new bridge will allow for Class I railroads to expand freight service and remove a freight bottleneck. Further, by eliminating weight restrictions on the bridge, the project will end lengthy detour routes for freight, transit, school buses, and emergency medical services. This will speed up the movement of goods and could ultimately reduce shipping costs. The project will also save transit commuters going east up to 30 minutes per trip. And the project provides an East-West connection between downtown Tucson and an underserved community. Broadband conduit will also be installed as part of the project.

•    Victory Infrastructure: In Lyon County, NV, USDOT is investing to plan, design, and construct the Victory Project which will complete the Nevada Pacific Parkway connection from I-80 to Highway 50. This will deliver industrial lead access to the entire Victory Logistics District industrial park that will create more capacity with dual access to Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail lines, increasing supply chain efficiency and helping to lower to costs of goods.

•    New Berth 301: In Tampa, Florida, USDOT is investing in a project to add capacity, create hundreds of jobs, and reduce emissions at the Port Redwing facility, which handles construction materials, agricultural and phosphate products, heavy machinery and other cargo. By connecting Berths 300 and 302 with a 1,025-foot dock, the facility will have a 3,000-linear-foot berth capable of simultaneously docking three of the largest dry bulk/multi-purpose cargo vessels that can navigate the newly expanded Big Bend Channel. This added capacity means the port can process more cargo, sustain more jobs, and support more businesses up and down the supply chain. 

•    Flow Better (Fixing Low Water Bridges for Emergency, Transportation, Technology, Equity, and Resilience): In Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga, and Wilkes Counties, NC, USDOT is helping to reconstruct approximately 28 bridges across rural, western North Carolina counties. By replacing low water bridges and fixing bridges with posted weight restrictions, emergency vehicles, school buses, agricultural vehicles, freight vehicles, and trucks carrying heavy equipment can traverse them more efficiently and reliably. The project will also coordinate with bringing fiber to rural areas. All of this will greatly boost economic development and create jobs in these rural counties in North Carolina.

•    Renewing Berlin with Renewable Energy: In Berlin, NH, a rural community of about 10,000 people, USDOT is investing in the community’s plan for renewal and revitalization, by funding a snow-melt system and rehabilitation of roads, sidewalks, and parking areas in downtown. Berlin experiences long winters with an average over seven feet of snow. This makes the downtown less accessible for residents or visitors, limiting economic opportunity for residents and making streets and sidewalks less safe. It also means that the town spends a lot of money plowing, salting, sanding, and then hauling and dumping snow – but even with all that, snow on the streets and sidewalks remains. Berlin is also home to a biomass power-plant that produces significant amounts of wasted heat. DOT is investing in Berlin to help them harness that excess heat to pump through condensed water pipes under newly paved streets and sidewalks so people can safely navigate downtown, ultimately boosting the economy.

•    Raising a Resilient Route 40: In Atlantic City, NJ, USDOT is investing to reconstruct and elevate one of the city’s main routes for people who drive and walk, and to provide upgrades to drainage systems along the route. By raising portions of the route, the project will be able to withstand two-year probable storm surge elevations and improve overall storm management. Route 40 provides direct access to Atlantic City’s casino industry, which provides thousands of jobs. The economic burden of flooding will be relieved and a new drainage main and updated 800-foot extension of the seawall will also reduce flooding and improve the roadway drainage, allowing it to have a longer service life. The project will also reduce standing water on the roadway which is a contributing factor in motor vehicle crashes and it will improve Route 40’s ability to serve as an evacuation route during extreme weather.

•    The Wilcox Boulevard Bridge - River to Ridge Mobility Project: USDOT is investing in replacing the Wilcox Boulevard bridge in Chattanooga, TN. The current bridge is in a deteriorated condition and the replacement will accommodate freight trucks to allow for the safe and efficient movement of goods to market.

•    Valentine Pontoon Bridge Replacement: In Lafourche Parish, LA, USDOT is funding the replacement of the existing dilapidated Valentine Pontoon Bridge over Bayou Lafourche with a modernized pontoon bridge. This new bridge will help cut the travel distance between the small rural communities of Lockport and Larose in half, saving residents time every day. This will allow for easier access to the employment opportunities at the nearby chemicals facility, as well as allow for more access to potential redevelopment of other nearby industrial sites.

•    New Carrollton Multi-Modal Transportation Station Project: In Prince George’s County, MD, USDOT is funding the construction of improvements to and around New Carrollton Station. The project includes a new Train Hall as well as new sidewalks and traffic calming improvements on Garden City Drive to access the station. There have been more than 150 crashes, 2 fatalities, and 50 injuries in the last three years on Garden City Drive near the station. The project will improve safety by adding striped bicycle lanes, bicycle boxes, wider sidewalks and safer pedestrian crossings, and a center median on the road. It will also provide lighting and signalization upgrades.

The full list of awards can be found here.

Additional background:

•    2022 RAISE grants are for planning and capital investments that support roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, or intermodal transportation.

•    50% of funding is designated for projects in rural areas, and 50% of the funding is designated for projects in urban areas.

•    Nearly two-thirds of projects are located in areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities.

•    The largest grant award is $25 million. Per statute, no more than $341.25 million could be awarded to a single state in this round of funding.

•    Among this year’s selected projects, 11 included a local hire provision.

•    Several projects include workforce development aspects including four projects that have project labor agreements, eight projects that have registered apprenticeship programs and an additional eight projects with other workforce development provisions.

The RAISE program is one of several ways communities can secure funding for projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s competitive grant programs. Later this year, the Biden-Harris Administration will announce recipients of the first-ever National Infrastructure Project Assistance (MEGA) program, as well as the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program and the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (RURAL).

Original source can be found here.