Infrastructure For Rebuilding America

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $905.25 Million in Proposed Awards for the FY 2021 Round of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grant Program

WASHINGTON – U.S Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg today announced that the Biden-Harris Administration intends to award $905.25 million to 24 projects in 18 states under the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program.   These grants advance the Administration’s priorities of rebuilding America’s infrastructure and creating jobs by funding highway and rail projects of regional and national economic significance that position America to win the 21^st century.

“These timely investments in our infrastructure will create jobs and support regional economies, while helping to spur innovation, confront climate change, and address inequities across the country,” said Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

INFRA grants were selected based on several criteria. In addition to prioritizing projects that would improve local economies, create jobs, and meet all statutory requirements, for the first time in USDOT’s history, grants were considered by how they would address climate change, environmental justice, and racial equity.

Further, USDOT prioritized funding to rural areas to address historic underinvestment. Approximately 44 percent of proposed funding will be awarded to rural projects, which exceeds the statutory requirements for rural projects set by Congress by 19%.

INFRA projects were >also rated on the extent that they applied innovative technology  and whether they could deliver projects in a cost-effective manner.

Demand for INFRA grants far exceeded available funds. USDOT evaluated 157 eligible applications from 42 states, as well as Guam.  Applicants collectively requested approximately $6.8 billion in grant funds—more than seven times the funding available.

The full list of proposed awards is below:

• The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be awarded $30.0 million in grant funding to construct a series of improvements aimed at improving traffic flow in the confluence area (1.3 miles) between the SR-57 and SR-60 freeways in Los Angeles County.
• The Yolo County Transportation District will be awarded $85.9 million in grant funding to improve traffic flow in the I-80 corridor on the west side of the Sacramento-Yolo metro area.
• The Georgia Ports Authority will be awarded $46,868,000 to build a new inland container port along the I-85/I-985 corridor in an unincorporated area of Gainesville, which will be linked with the Port of Savannah by direct, 324-mile intermodal freight rail service.
• The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will be awarded $70 million in INFRA funding to complete the Clear Path I-465 project.
• The Maine Department of Transportation will be awarded $45,240,000 to replace fourteen aging bridge decks, all of which are on the National Highway System (NHS) and many of which are on the National Highway Freight Network.
• The Minnesota Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Metropolitan Council, will be awarded $60 million for a series of improvements to approximately three miles on I-494 between the US 169 and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will be awarded $44 million to modernize an approximately 2.9-mile section of roadway at the north entrance of Port Newark and the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal.
• The Village of Los Lunas will be awarded $25 million to design and construct a new interchange on I-25 at Morris Road, a river crossing, 4 signalized intersections, and approximately 4 miles of four-lane highway.
• The City of Henderson will be awarded $39,851,697 for the approximately 7.5 mile Reimagine Boulder Highway Project.
• The City of Columbus will be awarded $25 million for Phase 4 of the Columbus Crossroads project involving the reconstruction of interchanges and roadways on the innerbelt I-70 and I-71 freeways.
• The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be awarded $50,254,916 for a lane addition and interchange improvement project on I-40 and the Douglas Boulevard Interchange.
• The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority will be awarded $49 million to construct a new approximately 1,056 linear foot multi-use berth that will be used to accommodate roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) vessels.
• Palmetto Railways, a division of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, will be awarded $25.0 million to build approximately 22.7 miles of new track and related facilities to connect the Camp Hall Commerce Park to the CSX rail network.
• The South Dakota Department of Transportation will be awarded $61,573,383 to reconstruct approximately 28 miles of Interstate 90 (I-90) in McCook and Minnehaha Counties, between mileage reference markers 362 and 390.
• The Texas Department of Transportation will be awarded $50 million to improve approximately 7.4 miles of I-35 across Texas, Oklahoma, and Chickasaw Nation.
• The City of Wenatchee will be awarded $92,111,956 to construct a network of projects on the 11-mile Apple Capital Loop.
• The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) will be awarded $18 million towards a Safe Streets Infrastructure project that includes approximately 26 new traffic signals and leading pedestrian interval (LPI) signal enhancements at approximately 90 intersections.
• The City of Dubuque will be awarded $5 million to increase capacity and make improvements to the Gavilon marine port and rail facility at Dove Harbor terminal at the Port of Dubuque.
• The Illinois Department of Transportation will be awarded $19,137,780 to grade separate Archer Avenue roadway and two existing Beltway Railway of Chicago (BRC) rail tracks.
• The Village of Plainfield, Illinois, will be awarded $5.0 million to construct the eastern extension of 143rd Street as part of the Illinois Route 126 Re-Route improvement program.
• The North Dakota Department of Transportation will be awarded $16,750,000 to construct passing lanes along approximately 165 miles of two-lane US-52 between Carrington, ND and six miles north of Kenmare, ND.
• The South Jersey Port Corporation will be awarded $9 million to: rehabilitate an approximately 150-linear-foot bulkhead and extend it to approximately 500 linear feet; dredge the new berth; acquire an adjacent approximate 6-acre former glass manufacturing facility; and perform site preparation, improvements, and refurbish a  multi-modal rail connection.
• The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will be awarded $21,012,220 towards a series of improvements on a segment of PA- 61, that is in poor condition and at risk of closure from slope deterioration and flooding.
• The Seattle Department of Transportation will be awarded $11,250,600 to make significant bridge repairs on the West Seattle High-Rise bridge that is currently closed due to structural deficiencies, as well as the Spokane Street Swing Bridge (“low bridge”) running adjacent to the High-Rise bridge.

As required under the FAST Act, Congress will have 60 days to review the Department’s proposed project awardees. After the 60-day review period, the Department is free to begin obligating funding.

More information can be found on the Department’s INFRA site located at: www.transportation.gov/INFRA

INFRA Extra Project Designations Can Help Finance Dozens of Priority Projects in Communities Around the Country

Monday, September 20, 2021

WASHINGTON – The U.S Department of Transportation today announced that the Biden-Harris Administration will designate 44 projects around the country as INFRA Extra, making them eligible to apply for credit assistance for up to 49 percent of costs. These projects made it to the final round for funding under the 2021 INFRA competitive grant program, but were not awarded due to a combination of overwhelming demand for INFRA grants and limited funds. Like projects that received INFRA, the projects receiving the INFRA Extra designation will help rebuild America’s infrastructure and create jobs.

“Every year, the Department receives far more qualified applications for the INFRA program than we can fund,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, “We’re excited to give some of the most promising INFRA finalists a chance to receive a TIFIA loan instead, so we can help advance transformative infrastructure projects all across the country .”

The announcement comes as the Department’s Build America Bureau, which administers the TIFIA loan program, marks its fifth anniversary. The Department also announced the Bureau has awarded five grants under the new Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Program. (Read more about the RIA program recipients here.)

This year USDOT received a total of 157 eligible INFRA applications from 42 states, as well as Guam.  This year’s applicants collectively requested approximately $6.8 billion in grant funds— nearly seven times more than the $1 billion available for the program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, now being considered in Congress, increases the  INFRA grant program funding by more than 35%-- to $8 billion over five years-- to help even more communities carry out projects.

The INFRA Extra initiative—announced by the Department  earlier this year— provides certain INFRA applicants the opportunity to apply for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit assistance for up to 49% of eligible project costs if the project advanced for funding but was NOT awarded due to resource constraints. This can potentially provide project sponsors with more funding than they would qualify for under a traditional TIFIA loan, which normally can fund up to 33% of a project’s cost, subject to satisfaction of underwriting requirements

The full list of INFRA Extra designation projects is below:

• Broward County Port Everglades, Slip 1 Expansion Project
• California High-Speed Rail Authority, Wasco SR 46 Improvement Project
• Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, I-676 Stormwater Disconnection: Mitigating Street Flooding in Camden, NJ
• Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, A Better Red Line: (Freight Rail Facility Improvements near McKalla Station) (Texas)
• Capital South East Connector Joint Powers Authority, Capital Southeast Connector: D2A Expressway Project –(California)
• City of Baton Rouge, North Baton Rouge Opportunity Access Program of Projects
• City of Cincinnati, Western Hills Viaduct Replacement Project
• City of Coachella, SR-86/Avenue 50 Interchange Project
• City of Fife, Interstate 5 Port of Tacoma Road Interchange Improvement Project
• City of Las Vegas, Charleston Boulevard Underpass Project
• City of McAllen, Anzalduas Land Port of Entry
• City of Murrieta, I-215 and Keller Road Interchange Project
• City of New York, Arthur Kill Lift Bridge Capital Renovation Project
• City of Raleigh, Boylan Wye Grade-Separated Crossing at West Street
• City of San Diego, Palm Avenue / I-805 Interchange Project
• City of San Jose - Department of Transportation, Warm Springs Grade Crossing Improvements
• City of Santee, State Route 52 (SR 52) congestion improvement project
• City of Spokane Valley, Bigelow-Sullivan Corridor Freight Mobility & Safety Project
• City of Tracy, I-580 at International Parkway/Patterson Pass Road Interchange Project
• Colorado Springs City Government, South Academy Boulevard Corridor (ABC) Improvements - Fountain Boulevard to Milton Proby Parkway
• Florida Department of Transportation, Miami River- Miami Intermodal Center Capacity Improvements (Revised Scope)
• Georgia Department of Transportation, I-285 at I-20 East Interchange Reconstruction Project - DeKalb County, Georgia
• Georgia Department of Transportation, I-85 & SR 138 Interchange Reconstruction
• Idaho Transportation Department, State Highway 53-Pleasant View Interchange & I-90 Huetter Port of Entry Relocation
• Indiana Department of Transportation, US 36 Modern Rockville Road Project
• Manatee County Port Authority, Port Manatee - Intermodal Container Yard - Phase 3
• Maryland State Highway Administration, I-81/Halfway Boulevard Freight Connections Project: Providing opportunities for economic growth, equitable job access, and improved safety
• Missouri Department of Transportation, North St. Louis Freight Corridor - Building Opportunity and Equity Through Sustainability
• Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio St Rt 7 Grade-Crossing
• Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Tulsa County I-44 and US-75 Corridor Improvement Projects
• Orange County Transportation Authority, State Route 91 (SR-91) Improvement Project (SR-55 to Lakeview Avenue)
• Oregon Department of Transportation, Aurora-Donald Interchange Improvement Project
• Oxnard Harbor District - Port of Hueneme, The Hueneme Modernization Project
• Port of Palm Beach District, Port Switcher Locomotive Electrification
• Rockdale County, Rockdale County Courtesy Parkway Non-Access Bridge
• Savoy, Village of, Curtis Road Grade Separation and Complete Streets Project
• Tampa Port Authority, Port Tampa Bay New Berth 218
• Texas Department of Transportation, I-30 Dallas Canyon
• Transportation Authority of Marin, US-101 Marin-Sonoma Narrows (MSN) Contract B7 HOV-Lanes Freeway Project
• Utah Department of Transportation, Northwest Quadrant Non-Motorized Access Project
• Washington State Department of Transportation, I-90/Vantage Bridge - Replace Bridge Deck and Special Repairs Project
• Washington State Department of Transportation, Salmon Bay Bridge Rehabilitation Project
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation, The Janesville Bridges and Track Restoration Project
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation, US 12/18-County AB Interchange Project

The eligible applicants whose projects received an INFRA Extra designation will be contacted by the Build America Bureau for technical assistance and additional information on the Department’s Credit and Financing programs. 
 
The Bureau, which administers the TIFIA credit program, was established under the Obama Administration as a “one-stop-shop” to streamline credit opportunities while also providing technical assistance and encouraging innovative best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and operation.