FY 2016 FASTLANE Grants

[Grzrd]

AHTD has a FASTLANE Grants page on its website describing a new federal funding opportunity.  AHTD submitted an I-49 Grant Application on April 14 that would accelerate progress on six currently scheduled projects for improvements to I-49/ "old" I-540 in NWA.

What is the likelihood that all 3 of their grants are approved? I'm just curious because I'm guessing that other states have also applied for these grants too. It'd be nice if they can get all 3.
Also, when do these grants get released?

(above two quotes from I-49 in Arkansas thread)

FHWA's FASTLANE Grants Fact Sheets answer a lot of questions about the FASTLANE Grants program.  In particular, the Fact Sheets indicate that $800 million in funding will be awarded for FY 2016.

How fierce will be the competition for funding?  I have not conducted a thorough search, but I have noticed that Louisiana has applied for a $100 million grant to fund pavement replacement and lane additions to roughly 15 miles of I-10 between the I-10/I-49 interchange and the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.  Using that anecdotal evidence, I suspect that competition for the funding will be fierce and it will be fascinating to see which projects will be awarded the grants.

Is anyone aware of grant applications from states other than Arkansas and Louisiana?

[Jmiles32]

Virginia applied for both the FASTLANE and TIGER grants to fund their Atlantic Gateway Proposal. If Virginia gets the funds(which they will) it will go towards extending the I-95 HOT lanes 10 miles north to the Pentagon and 10 miles south to Fredericksburg, the Rappahannock River Crossing Project, building a 3rd CSX rail track in Fairfax, and improve the Long Bride over the Potomac into D.C.

[mvak36]

I ran across this earlier today. Iowa DOT has applied for a FASTLANE grant for Phase 2 of the I-74 Mississippi River bridge project. They have requested $66.5 million (Page 13 of pdf).

[lordsutch]

Mississippi applications:

US 49 in Rankin County (SE of Jackson): http://www.improverankin49.com/
US 49 in Harrison County (N of Gulfport): http://www.improveharrison49.com/

Both are widening and access management projects.

Alabama is apparently applying for a grant for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge proposal. http://www.mobileriverbridge.com/

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minnesota applied for at least one, in order to expedite the rebuild of the I-35/535/US 53 interchange in Duluth.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/twin-ports-interchange/images/TP-FASTLANE-Grant.pdf

[CanesFan27]

AHTD has a FASTLANE Grants page on its website describing a new federal funding opportunity.  AHTD submitted an I-49 Grant Application on April 14 that would accelerate progress on six currently scheduled projects for improvements to I-49/ "old" I-540 in NWA.

What is the likelihood that all 3 of their grants are approved? I'm just curious because I'm guessing that other states have also applied for these grants too. It'd be nice if they can get all 3.
Also, when do these grants get released?

(above two quotes from I-49 in Arkansas thread)

FHWA's FASTLANE Grants Fact Sheets answer a lot of questions about the FASTLANE Grants program.  In particular, the Fact Sheets indicate that $800 million in funding will be awarded for FY 2016.

How fierce will be the competition for funding?  I have not conducted a thorough search, but I have noticed that Louisiana has applied for a $100 million grant to fund pavement replacement and lane additions to roughly 15 miles of I-10 between the I-10/I-49 interchange and the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.  Using that anecdotal evidence, I suspect that competition for the funding will be fierce and it will be fascinating to see which projects will be awarded the grants.

Is anyone aware of grant applications from states other than Arkansas and Louisiana?

IF TIGER grants are any indicator - it'll be extremely competitive.

[CanesFan27]

NC has applied for three fastlane and two tiger - four are rail - two highway/pedestrian.

https://twitter.com/ncdot/status/734735668757336064

I've asked if they have links or more details on proposals

[froggie]

According to a US DOT press release from Friday, almost $9.8 billion in FASTLANE grant requests have been received.  Given this, I would say the odds of any given project receiving funding are not very high.  And even if they do receive funding, I wouldn't expect much more than the minimums ($5 million for a "small project" or $25 million for a "large project").

[mvak36]

Finally found this after an hour-long search.

Here are the list of awards for the FASTLANE grants this year (pending a 60 day review process):
http://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fastlane_project_awards_7.1.pdf

[Rothman]

The amount of the grants compared to the total costs can be quite telling of how likely it is projects will be actually pursued.

[Alex]

Did not see the Minnesota FASTLANE Grant for Duluth (I-35/535/US 53 interchange rebuild) on the list.

So is this scenario going to play out instead?

No-Build vs. Planned Project Alternatives
The No-Build alternative to the planned Twin Ports Interchange project is to rebuild the Interchange
complex between 2022 and 2034 rather than between 2016 and 2020.

[Rothman]

Did not see the Minnesota FASTLANE Grant for Duluth (I-35/535/US 53 interchange rebuild) on the list.

So is this scenario going to play out instead?

No-Build vs. Planned Project Alternatives
The No-Build alternative to the planned Twin Ports Interchange project is to rebuild the Interchange
complex between 2022 and 2034 rather than between 2016 and 2020.

The more I find out about other states' financing, the more I recognize that New York's management may be unique.  At least here, we get nowhere near the max of our advance construction limit when it comes to getting federal funds authorized (as opposed to actually obligated). 

Therefore, with a decent-sized project like the one in Duluth (finally getting rid of that traffic light that meets at the intersection of two bridges?), the project would not be totally dependent upon receiving the grant.  Essentially, room would be made for it by AC-ing the project -- thus causing our AC balance to go up atypically, if it was deemed a top priority.

Take that I-390/I-490 job mentioned in the awards here in NY -- that project would have gone forward one way or another.  The grant's viewed as a "bonus" in terms of just relieving pressure on our core federal funding.

So, if MN manages the same way, then they may go ahead with the project through other means, despite the mentioned no-build alternative.  However, from what I hear, there's a decent number of states out there are actually at their AC thresholds (three years' worth -- sucks to be them).

[froggie]

The amount of the grants compared to the total costs can be quite telling of how likely it is projects will be actually pursued.

I believe part of the application process was how the responsible jurisdiction was going to fund the rest of the project should they receive FASTLANE funding.  I also want to say that there is a time requirement for a given project receiving FASTLANE funding to be under contract.

So is this scenario going to play out instead?

Correct.  More specifically, starting in 2022 for the I-535/Garfield Ave bridges, with the "Can of Worms" itself (I-35/I-535/US 53) not beginning until 2031.

(finally getting rid of that traffic light that meets at the intersection of two bridges?)

Not exactly.  There would still be a signal in the new proposal.  In short, the proposal retains direct freeway ramps between I-35 and I-535, eliminates the left-side exits on I-35, converts the I-35/US 53 connections to a diamond configuration (the new signal would be where US 53 meets the NB I-35 ramps), and eliminates the southbound 35 weave between 53 and 27th Ave by moving the 27th Ave off-ramp to the same location as the off-ramp to NB 53.

Regarding your comments on AC funding...MnDOT already makes extensive use of it, so it's quite possible that there isn't any additional wiggle room there to fit this project in sooner.  The "mentioned no-build alternative" is not a no-build in the strictest sense...just means that MnDOT is back to their previous project schedule as Alex referenced earlier.

[Neri123]

Finally I can pass that area without traffic 

[mvak36]

It looks like they're accepting applications for a second round of FASTLANE grants (due by Dec. 15): https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/FASTLANEgrants

Also, list of all the applications for the first round of the FASTLANE grants: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/FASTLANE2016Applications27Oct.pdf