WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced that the Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for approximately $5.1 billion in funding for projects of regional or national significance for three major discretionary grant programs. The application process has been streamlined into the single Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program (MPDG) opportunity, according to a news release.
In the first two years of the infrastructure law, the Biden-Harris Administration has provided nearly $8 billion in grants to communities through the MPDG program to help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.
“Today’s announcement of over $5 billion will fund transformative infrastructure projects that unlock opportunities for communities across the country while creating good-paying jobs and boosting economic competitiveness,” said White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian. “This announcement is part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, which is building a safe, efficient, and reliable transportation system nationwide.”
Buttigieg said that the money is not only good for the nation’s infrastructure, but it is also a “benefit the economy and quality of life of entire regions of America, from our biggest cities to our most rural areas. This will support major infrastructure projects that so large, complex, and ambitious that they could not get funded under the infrastructure programs that existed prior to this administration.”
Available funding
- There is $1.7 billion for the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) program. The Mega program invests in large, complex projects that are difficult to fund by other means and are likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects of national or regional significance. Per the law, 50% of funds are available for projects above $500 million in total cost, and 50% are available for projects between $100 million and $500 million in total cost.
- There is $2.7 billion for the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program — The INFRA program awards competitive grants to multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, accessibility, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas. Eligible projects will improve safety, generate economic benefits, reduce congestion, enhance resiliency, and hold the greatest promise to eliminate supply chain bottlenecks and improve critical freight movements.
- There is $780 million for the Rural Surface Transportation Grant (Rural) program — While smaller communities receive grants from a wide number of grant programs, including Mega and INFRA, the Rural program is dedicated specifically to projects in rural areas. Eligible projects for Rural grants include highway, bridge, and tunnel projects that help improve freight, safety, and provide or increase access to agricultural, commercial, energy, or transportation facilities that support the economy of a rural area.
Awards for the last round of grants were announced at the end of 2023 and earlier this year, providing long overdue funding to transformative projects across the country. Key projects announced include replacing the Blatnik Bridge from Duluth, Minnesota, to Superior, Washington; replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon; improving 10 miles of Interstate 10 through the Gila River Indian Community and Pinal County in Arizona; making multimodal improvements in the Interstate 376 corridor of Pittsburgh; and reconnecting communities divided by the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York.
As in that round, applications for this round of funding will be evaluated based on how well they advance outcomes including safety, economic impacts, job creation, equity, innovation, and climate goals..
The deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on May 6, 2024.
More information is available by clicking here.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
