Dive Brief:
- The Department of Transportation awarded $426 million to critical infrastructure projects in 12 states, according to an Oct. 1 news release.
- The largest awards include $85.1 million for an 8-mile, four-lane highway in Kentucky and $85 million to add lanes along about 20 miles of Interstate 4 in Florida, according to the full project award list.
- The awards come through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program, also known as INFRA, which is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program provides competitive grants to bolster U.S. supply chains.
Dive Insight:
Lawmakers extended federal surface transportation programs under the IIIJA through the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions, signed on Sept. 2. The extension applies to the Highway Trust Fund, which keeps programs such as INFRA authorized.
As a part of this announcement, investment will go toward critical bypass expansions and lane addition projects on some of the busiest highways in the U.S., according to the release. In addition to projects in Kentucky and Florida, the other awards in the list include:
- $53.5 million to the Kansas State Highway 96 reconstruction and enhancement project in Wichita, Kansas.
- $44 million to the expansion of the I-55/I-69 freight corridor in DeSoto County, Mississippi.
- $42.1 million to the I-70 St. Louis Airport Corridor project in St. Louis County, Missouri.
- $28 million to improvements at the Kaliste Saloom interchange in Lafayette, Louisiana.
- $27.8 million to I-295 improvements in Cumberland County, Maine.
- $25 million to the State Route 71 gap closure project in Los Angeles County, California.
- $11.3 million to Project DeRenne, a freight mobility, military and workforce readiness connector, in Savannah, Georgia.
- $11 million to the 24th Avenue NE improvement project in Norman, Oklahoma.
- $7.2 million to the Cumberland Freight Access and Economic Development project in Millville, New Jersey.
- $6.7 million to I-80 Green River Tunnels repair and safety enhancements in Green River, Wyoming.
The funding round follows a $481 million investment into airport infrastructure, according to a Sept. 3 announcement from the DOT. The Federal Aviation Administration also recently distributed $1.1 billion to airports in 46 states and three territories, according to a Sept. 14 DOT release.
