The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $273.9 million from the new Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program to entities that will help communities complete transportation projects.
The grants will fund projects like the one for the Native Village of Wales, Alaska, which was awarded $10 million to construct approximately 3.6 miles of access from the village to Tin City Road, according to a fact sheet. Another $25 million award will help with the design and construction of two ferry boats in Plaquemines Parish and Cameron Parish in Louisiana.
"Today's announcement is one of the many ways this administration is delivering investments to rural communities to create economic opportunity, modernize transportation and make life better for millions of people,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Dec. 21 post on Twitter.
Applicants submitted applications requesting approximately $10 billion that surpassed the nearly $300 million available for 2022. Applications were assessed based on criteria that included project readiness, cost-effectiveness and support of such goals as enhancing safety, increasing mobility and reliability, a Dec. 21 news release said.
“Infrastructure investments haven’t always reached rural America, leaving far too many roads, bridges and other parts of the transportation system across our country in disrepair,” Buttigieg said in the release. “Today’s announcement is one of many ways this administration is delivering the investments that rural communities have gone without for far too long, modernizing transportation, creating economic opportunity and making life better for millions of people.”
The Department of Transportation announced the availability of more than $44 billion spanning five years for “rural communities to rebuild and modernize roads, bridges, transit, ports and airports” under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, an April 13 release said.
