US DOT Awards $274M for Rural Highways, Other Infrastructure

Abstract

Of Transportation has picked 12 projects to receive $273.9 million in grants for highway and other surface transportation projects in rural areas around the country. The grant awards, announced on Dec. 21, went to projects in 12 states. The largest grant, $69 million, went to the Pennsylvania DOT, to rebuild about six miles of a new four-lane highway that is part of the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who said he had fought for the Central Susquehanna project for more than 10 years, called the highway "a critical link in central Pennsylvania." Competition was intense for the grants. The grants are part of DOT's Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which was established by the IIJA and is funded at $2 billion over five years. Under the infrastructure law, the minimum grant for the new rural program is generally $25 million, though up to 10% of the funds can go for grants smaller than $25 million. The department noted that about 13% of rural roads and 10% of bridges that are not on the National Highway System are in poor condition, and most of them in rural ares.