The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded nearly $1.74 billion in BUILD grants to 127 projects on July 7, directing about 77 percent of the funding toward road and bridge work while advancing freight, transit, marine and aviation infrastructure.
Awards include projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
Road projects received approximately $1.33 billion. Transit projects received $169.9 million, followed by marine projects at $136.8 million, rail projects at $87.7 million and aviation-related projects at $11.6 million, according to an ENR analysis of the fiscal year 2026 award database.
The distribution of funding reflects what contractors are seeing in the industry, according to Jonathon Porter, director of AGC’s Highways and Transportation Division.
“What stands out the most is the emphasis on roads and bridges, especially seeing as roughly three-quarters of the funding will go to these projects,” Porter said in an email to ENR.
“But the scale of the demand is just as significant,” he added. “This shows that the demand for transport investment remains far greater than any competitive grant program can address.”
Selected projects include interstate interchange improvements, bridge replacements, truck parking expansions, freight rail improvements, port infrastructure and passenger rail capacity work. No FY 2026 BUILD award exceeded $25 million, although many grants will help advance projects with substantially larger overall costs.
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Merchandise projects stand out
Among the largest highway awards, the city of Lake Elsinore, California, received $25 million to reconfigure the Interstate 15-state 74 interchange, while the Riverside County Transportation Commission in Tucson, Arizona, received $25 million to add an operational lane and related improvements along a three-mile stretch of the eastbound state route. replace the Rillito River Bridge and reconstruct approximately one mile of First Avenue.
The mobility of goods came up repeatedly throughout the award list. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet received $25 million to expand truck parking at seven interstate rest areas along Interstates 75, 71, 65 and 64. Overall, the USDOT awarded about $62 million for truck parking projects in Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana and Wyoming. The $22.1 million grant from Mississippi will expand truck parking at the Hancock County Welcome Center on Interstate 10 while adding parking availability technology.
Maritime and railway projects also featured prominently.
ENR’s analysis of the FY 2026 BUILD Awards database found that road projects received approximately $1.33 billion, or about 77% of total funding. Texas received the largest aggregate share of BUILD grants among states. Awards involving multiple states were split equally among participating states for state-level analysis.
ENR
At the Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville, a $25 million grant will help build a new dock, install a 300-ton crane, build a crane and warehouse, and expand cargo handling infrastructure. The Corpus Christi Port Authority received nearly $24.3 million for the second phase of rail improvements to the inner harbor, including about 12.5 miles of new tracks and related rail infrastructure.
Passenger rail also received funding. A $25 million grant will help fund the $128.8 million L’Enfant Station and Fourth Track project in Washington, DC, adding a fourth main track and improving Virginia Railway Express station facilities to increase commuter and intercity rail capacity.
According to ENR’s analysis, Texas received the largest aggregate share of FY 2026 BUILD funding at approximately $105 million. Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio and Kansas rounded out the top five recipients. (See the attached chart of the top 10 states.)
Created in 2009 as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, BUILD was renamed RAISE before returning to the name BUILD this year.
USDOT selected the 127 awards from nearly 1,200 eligible applications requesting more than $14.5 billion, illustrating the continued demand for one of the federal government’s most competitive discretionary transportation grant programs.
Porter said the awards “strengthen the transportation pipeline for years to come,” although many grantees still need to complete grant agreements, design, environmental reviews and other pre-construction steps before construction begins.
