With a big boost in funding from the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act, the US Department of Transportation has awarded $1.8 billion for a number of key infrastructure projects in highways, bikeways, rail and other modes of transport
In total, the competitively awarded grants, which the DOT announced on June 26, went to 148 projects under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.
Natalie Quillian, White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters at a June 25 pre-briefing that the grants went to projects in every state, as well as the District of Columbia and four territories.
Local or regional impact
The DOT said that for the RAISE competition it was looking for projects “that have a significant local or regional impact” and also follow the priorities of the Biden administration, such as safety, equity, climate and sustainability.
RAISE capital and planning grants were capped at $25 million. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at the briefing, “Some of these projects aren’t the multibillion-dollar projects that drive national headlines, but each one is essential to the community where it’s happening.”
Buttigieg added, “And we’re seeing more and more of the projects from our previous funding rounds being built and completed, from Alaska to San Francisco.”
Some projects reach the $25 million mark
Among the entries that have won $25 million in grants in the new RAISE round are: a grade separation project in Santa Ana, California; the construction of about 50 miles of sidewalk in Topeka, Kan.; which is now out of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act; and the construction of a new multimodal transportation center in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.
This round is based on $1.5 billion in IIJA authorizations, supplemented by funds from regular DOT appropriations.
As with previous RAISE award rounds, demand for funds exceeded available dollars. Buttigieg told the media conference that the department received about $13 billion in requests, far more than it had available to award.
In addition to the $25 million grant ceiling, RAISE has several other restrictions. For example, no state could receive total BUILD dollars in excess of $225 million, or 15% of the IIJA-authorized funds for the round.
In addition, no more than 50% of the $1.5 billion could go to projects located in rural or urban areas.
RAISE traces its history to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It was later named the TIGER program, for transportation investment that generates economic recovery.
In the Trump administration, it was renamed BUILD, for Better Utilization of Investments to Leverage Development, and later renamed RAISE under the Biden administration.
