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U.S. DOT Proposes $856 Million in INFRA Grants

Mobile River Bridge proposal
Mobile River Bridge proposal

Published Jul 25, 2019 5:21 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced $855,950,000 in proposed grants through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program.

The funding targets major highways, bridges, ports, and railroads around the country. INFRA advances a grant program established in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The Department 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 $25 million.  For a small project, the grant must be at least $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 American Association of Port Authoritiesnotes that of the 20 projects, three are port-related - in Baltimore, Cleveland and Miami:

•      $125 million to the Maryland Department of Transportation for Baltimore’s Howard Street railroad (CSX Transportation) tunnel to enable double stacking of shipping containers to and from the Port of Baltimore in this crucial freight-rail corridor.
•      $9.02 million to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) for Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River bulkhead project to replace dilapidated bulkhead on the Cuyahoga River Ship Channel and prevent a collapse of Franklin Hill along Irishtown Bend. This is a key economic and environmental protection funding initiative for the Port of Cleveland, which worked in coordination with NOACA to secure the INFRA grant
•      $8.04 million to PortMiami for its Seaboard Marine Terminal rehabilitation and expansion, which is the second year in a row this PortMiami terminal project will get an INFRA grant. Last year it received $7 million for a new gate complex.

Two other INFRA grants will go to projects that, while not directly related to ports, will help alleviate traffic congestion for improved freight movement. One is a $125 million award to the Alabama Department of Transportation to construct a new, six-lane, cable-stayed I-10 bridge across the Mobile River channel near the Port of Mobile. The other is a $10.516 million award to the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District to rehabilitate a 91.3-mile continuous short-line railroad between McGehee, Ark., and Tallulah, La.  

The full list of proposed awards is as follows:

Large projects:

•  The Alabama Department of Transportation will be awarded $125 million to construct a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge with more than 215 feet of vertical clearance to carry I-10 across the Mobile River channel. 
•  The Arizona Department of Transportation will be awarded $90 million to add capacity on a rural, mountainous stretch of I-17 north of Phoenix.
•  The City of Temecula, CA, will be awarded $50 million to construct a two-lane northbound collector/distributor system along I-15.
•  Space Florida will be awarded $90 million to replace the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Indian River Bridge with new twin high-level bridges, to allow transportation of oversized vehicles to launch sites.
•  The Maryland Department of Transportation will be awarded $125 million to raise the vertical clearance of the Howard Street Tunnel, Baltimore, to facilitate movement of double-stack trains on an important freight rail corridor.
•  Maine DOT will be awarded $36 million in grant funding to replace the Madawaska International Bridge, a US-Canada border crossing bridge over the Saint John River.
•  Missouri DOT will be awarded $81.2 million in INFRA funds to complete two critical upgrades along I-70. 
•  The Mississippi Department of Transportation will be awarded $52.4 million to complete the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) in Mississippi.
•  The Oregon Department of Transportation will be awarded $60.4 million to make a series of improvements to roadways on the north side of Bend, Oregon. 
•  The Rhode Island Department of Transportation will be awarded $60.355 million to rebuild the Providence Interstate 95 Northbound Viaduct.

Small projects:

•  The City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will be awarded $6.87 million to replace the University Boulevard/US82 Overpass Bridge.
•  The Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District will be awarded $10.516 million to rehabilitate a 91.3-mile continuous shortline railroad corridor between McGehee, AR and Tallulah, LA.
•  The Colorado DOT will be awarded $8.297 million to add approximately 12 miles of passing lanes along US 287 in rural southeastern Colorado.
•  PortMiami will be awarded $8.04 million to rehabilitate and create new capacity on the Seaboard Marine Terminal.
•  Cobb County, GA will be awarded $5 million for the construction of a 24-foot-wide reversible ramp providing direct access to the I-75 Managed Lanes system.
•  The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) will be awarded $9.02 million to rehabilitate riverbank infrastructure along the Cuyahoga River at Irishtown Bend.
•  The South Dakota Department of Transportation will be awarded $13.01 million to support a bridge replacement project over the Missouri River in Pierre, SD. 
•  The North Central Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and Texas DOT will be awarded $8.775 million for a series of 7 projects involving 7 bridges in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
•  The City of Union Gap, WA, will be awarded $6.66 million to construct the Regional Beltway connecting SR-97 to Longfibre Road.
•  The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOT), will be awarded $9.4 million for the WV2 Proctor to Kent project.

More information on the large projects is available here.