The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced US$ 856 million in proposed grants through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program. The program provides dedicated, discretionary funding for projects that address critical issues facing the country´s highways and bridges.
INFRA discretionary grants support the Administration’s commitment to fixing nation’s infrastructure by creating opportunities for all levels of government and the private sector to fund infrastructure, using innovative approaches to improve the processes for building significant projects and increasing accountability for the projects that are built. In addition to providing direct federal funding, the INFRA discretionary grant program aims to increase the total investment by the state, local, and private partners.
INFRA advances a grant program established in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and utilizes updated criteria for evaluating projects to align them with national and regional economic vitality goals. The program increases the impact of projects by leveraging federal grant funding and incentivizing project sponsors to pursue innovative strategies, including public-private partnerships.
Additionally, the new program promotes the incorporation of innovative technology that will improve USA transportation system.
The Department of Transportation is proposing awards under the INFRA discretionary grant program to both large and small projects. For a large project, the INFRA grant must be at least US$ 25 million. For a small project, the grant must be at least US$ 5 million. For each fiscal year of INFRA funds, 10 percent of available funds are reserved for small projects. The INFRA discretionary grant program also preserves the statutory requirement in the FAST Act to award at least 25 percent of funding for rural projects.
The list of proposed awards for large projects is the following :
Remaining INFRA grant will be used for small projects throughout the country. The works include University repair work in Alabama, railroad rehabilitation in California, Marine terminal works in Florida, rehabilitation of riverbank infrastructure in Ohio, bridge replacement in South Dakota, bridge building in Texas among other projects.
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