News:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on what errors you encountered from the forum database changes made in Fall 2023. Let us know if you discover anymore.

Main Menu

2022 RAISE and INFRA Grants

Started by mvak36, August 09, 2022, 04:46:26 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

mvak36

Looks like they are starting to announce the projects that won the grants.

Alabama
Maine
Ohio: 1, 2
Rhode Island
Illinois
Texas
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary


Bruce


Great Lakes Roads


froggie


NWI_Irish96

Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

TheHighwayMan3561

Minnesota (6 projects, including a total rebuild of MN 197 in Bemidji and a rebuild of a portion of MN 55)
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

Great Lakes Roads


mvak36

Don't want to create a new thread for this. I'm a few days late but they announced the INFRA projects last week. Some of these projects have already been mentioned by others in the respective regional threads.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-09/INFRA%20Fact%20Sheets%20FY%202022.pdf
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary

Plutonic Panda

Here's an interactive map of projects around the country using federal infrastructure bill dollars: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/bil-project-map/

mvak36

They've announced the Rural Grants portion of the MPDG Grants (Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant). The other parts of these grants are the INFRA grants (which were announced earlier this year) and the Mega grants (which will be announced sometime early next year).

https://www.transportation.gov/grants/mpdg-announcement
Quote
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $274 Million in Funding for 12 Projects to Improve and Expand Transportation Infrastructure in Rural Areas

New Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, made possible by the President's infrastructure law, makes long overdue safety and state of good repair investments to transportation systems in rural areas across the nation

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded $273.9 million from the new Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program to help communities around the United States complete transportation projects that will increase connectivity, improve safety and reliability, support regional economic growth, and improve the quality of life for people living in rural areas.

Due to decades of disinvestment, around 13% of rural roads and 10% of off-system bridges, most of which are in rural areas, are in poor condition. The fatality rate on rural roads is also two times greater than on urban roads. Facing these sobering figures, the Biden Administration made supporting Americans living in rural areas a top priority. And with a total of $44 billion through the infrastructure law to help rural communities repair and improve their roads, bridges, airports, ports, and transit systems, USDOT is leading the charge to help rebuild rural transportation systems to benefit residents for decades to come.

"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,"  said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "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."

This year's selected projects include:

    West Reserve Drive Improvements Project in Kalispell, Montana. In the city of Kalispell, Montana — a gateway to Glacier National Park — USDOT is investing $25 million in pedestrian and road safety and economic mobility. The project will make needed improvements along West Reserve Drive including the addition of a center turn lane, new landscaped boulevards with a shared use path and sidewalks to separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicle traffic, and a redesign of the Hutton Ranch Road and Whitefish Stage Road intersections that will reduce congestion and improve access to nearby educational facilities, job opportunities, retail shops, and recreation areas for local residents.

    Mobility for Everyone, Everywhere in North Carolina. In up to 11 rural communities across North Carolina, USDOT is investing $10.4 million in new and expanded on-demand transit services that will be tailored to each community's unique transportation needs. The project will increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for local residents.

    BIA Route 7 Regional Improvement Project in Todd County, South Dakota. In Todd County, South Dakota -- which is completely within the borders of the Rosebud Indian Reservation — USDOT is investing $26.2 million in the reconstruction of approximately 24 miles of roadway stretching from US Route 18 to US Route 83. The project will provide improved access for Tribal residents to the town of Rosebud and the essential services located there, including healthcare centers, employment opportunities, and educational facilities.

A full list of this year's Rural Surface Transportation Grant program recipients can be found HERE.

The Rural Surface Transportation Grant program, which is new this year thanks to President Biden's historic investment in our nation's infrastructure, will invest a total of approximately $2 billion through 2026 for projects that improve highways, bridges, and tunnels, address highway safety, increase access to agricultural, commercial, energy, or freight facilities that support the economy, and bring flexible transit services to rural and Tribal areas. The Department received applications requesting approximately $10 billion in funding, far exceeding the nearly $300 million in 2022 funding available. 

Applications were evaluated based on several criteria, including project readiness, cost-effectiveness, and whether the project supported critical goals like enhancing safety, increasing mobility and reliability, improving resiliency and restoring infrastructure to a state of good repair. Applicants for the Rural Surface Transportation Grant program also benefited from a streamlined application process that reduced the burden for applicants by allowing them to submit one application for three different grant programs: the Rural Surface Transportation Grant program, the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA), and the new National Infrastructure Project Assistance program (Mega).

For more information about the Rural Surface Transportation Grant program, click HERE.

USDOT announced INFRA award recipients in September and expects to announce the recipients of this round of Mega funding early next year.


Projects List: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-12/Fact%20Sheets%20Rural%202022_0.pdf

Major highway projects I saw at a quick glance: $25 million for California SR41 (4 mile section), $69 million to CSVT Southern section, $25 million for an I-64 Widening project in VA (MP205-MP215), $25 million for Coalfields Expressway project (WV Route 16 to Mullens).
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary

froggie

^ Another notable road project in that list will grade separate the existing at-grade rail crossings on US 10/75 in downtown Moorhead, MN.

mvak36

https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/national/should-federal-grants-favor-highway-repair-over-expansion/article_58401381-3b8e-5a7a-9278-da58c76a1f67.html

Saw this in the article:
QuoteFor example, one of the projects that the administration told Congress it had chosen for a Mega Grant will widen Interstate 10 – but in Mississippi, not Arizona. Davis said the department likely preferred the Mississippi project due to its significantly lower price tag. This year's Mega Grants combine three different award types into a single application, one of which caters specifically to rural and impoverished communities.

Some of the winning grants are for bridges, while others are for mass transit – including improvements to Chicago's commuter train system and concrete casing for a rail tunnel in Midtown Manhattan.

Along with the nine projects selected, transportation department staff listed seven others as "highly recommended"  – a distinction Davis said makes them clear front-runners to secure money next year. Arizona's I-10 widening effort was part of a third group of 13 projects labeled as "recommended,"  which Davis said could put them in contention for future funding unless they're surpassed by even stronger applicants.

These awards haven't been announced yet so will be interesting to see what got selected. The article said they will announce the awards this week.
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary

mvak36

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/31/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-funding-for-major-transportation-projects-funded-by-bipartisan-infrastructure-law/

Quote

President Biden will announce a $292 million Mega grant to Amtrak for Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, Section 3. This funding is part of a $649 million early phase project that will complete the final section of concrete casing intended to preserve future right-of-way for the new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The concrete casing protects the path of the new tunnel from Penn Station to the Hudson River's edge.  If this casing were not built now, the foundations from the new Hudson Yards development would likely impede the path of the tunnel and make the project extremely difficult.

....

The Mega grant program, created by the infrastructure law, funds projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects that are a part of one of the other project types.   The Mega program will invest a total of $5 billion through 2026 to help rebuild the United States' infrastructure for the benefit of residents now and for generations to come.

Beyond the Hudson Tunnel concrete casing project, the Administration is announcing projects of regional and national economic significance that are receiving Mega grant awards including:


  • $250 million for the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio, part of a total investment of $1.6 Billion from the infrastructure law to build a new companion bridge and rehab an existing bridge along a major freight corridor on I-75. Earlier this month, the President and Senate Minority Leader McConnell visited the Brent Spence Bridge to announce this funding;
  • $150 million to the Louisiana Department of Transportation for the Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement which will increase capacity on a critical stretch of Interstate 10 which is an important freight route;
  • $117 million to the Metra Commuter Railroad in Illinois to make improvements on the Metra Union Pacific-North line on a two-mile corridor from the Addison to Fullerton rail bridges, replacing approximately 11 bridges, 4 miles of track structure, and more than 1.75 miles of retaining walls along Metra's UP-N line;
  • $110 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to replace the Alligator River Bridge on U.S. Highway 64 with a modern high-rise fixed span bridge along the primary east-west route in northeastern North Carolina between I-95 and the Outer Banks;
  • $85 million to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for I-44 and US-75 improvements along a critical urban freight corridor near Tulsa, including vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements;
  • $78 million to the City of Philadelphia to make improvements along approximately 12.3 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard, from North Broad Street to the Bucks County line including making traffic signal upgrades, constructing intersection and roadway reconfigurations, constructing median barriers and pedestrian refuge islands, making corridor access management improvements, constructing complete streets improvements for accessibility, pedestrian, and bicycle improvements, as well as installing new business access and transit lanes;
  • $60 million to the Mississippi Department of Transportation to widen I-10 in Harrison and Hancock counties along a major freight corridor of regional significance; and,
  • $30 million to the California Department of Transportation (Santa Cruz County) for the Watsonville-Cruz Multimodal Corridor Program which will construct approximately 2.5 miles of State Route 1 auxiliary lanes and a Bus on Shoulder facility between Freedom Boulevard and State Park Drive, construct approximately 1.25 miles of the New Coastal Rail Trail within Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line right-of-way, and fund the purchase of 4 new zero-emission buses.

I assume they mean $110 million for the award to North Carolina.
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary




Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.