DOT Awards Nearly $800 Million for Transportation Infrastructure Projects
Map indicates location of 18 infrastucture projects awarded FASTLANE grants for FY 2016. Image: U.S. DOT
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Map indicates location of 18 infrastucture projects awarded FASTLANE grants for FY 2016. Image: U.S. DOT
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Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced on Sept. 7 that almost $800 million in inaugural FASTLANE federal grants has been awarded to 18 transportation infrastructure projects in 15 states and the District of Columbia.
In a call with reporters, Secretary Foxx said the grants will be combined with other funding from federal, state, local, and private sources “to support $3.6 billion in infrastructure investment.”
The FASTLANE grant program was established by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act highway bill passed late last year.
The program is administered by DOT’s newly launched Build America Bureau. Per DOT, the bureau will streamline credit and grant opportunities while providing technical assistance and encouraging best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and monitoring of transportation infrastructure projects.
“The FAST Act gave us a set of tools to begin addressing America’s infrastructure deficit, and we have been moving full speed ahead to get critical road, rail, and port projects off the ground across the country,” said Foxx. “From eliminating traffic bottlenecks and enhancing port capacity to overhauling a major freight corridor, the 18 inaugural FASTLANE grants will enable people and goods to move more efficiently.”
Among the projects that are receiving grants through the inaugural batch of FASTLANE awards are:
The Atlantic Gateway project in Virginia is a corridor approach to improving mobility across the Eastern seaboard. Combining a $165 million FASTLANE grant with public and private funding from multiple partners, DOT said it will improve and expand key segments of the corridor.The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be awarded $62 million to improve safety and efficiency of high-volume freight traffic along the US 69/75 corridor in southern Oklahoma. The project will implement grade separations, remove railroad/local street crossing conflicts, and increase …Read the rest of this story