Biden administration announces $1.8B in transportation grants for ‘communities of every size’

The Biden administration announced it has awarded $1.8 billion in grants for 148 transportation projects across the country.­­­

The funding, awarded through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, is split equally between urban and rural areas in the U.S. and includes projects in all 50 states, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico, according to the administration.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the funding will go toward a wide range of transportation initiatives and span “communities of every size.”

“Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding projects across the country to make roads safer, make it easier for people to move around their community, make transportation infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather, and improve supply chains to keep costs down for consumers,” Buttigieg said in a statement, adding that the grants followed “decades of underinvestment” in the country’s infrastructure.

Among the grants, one of the largest, at $25 million, will go toward restoring around 45 miles of the Alaska Highway that have been degraded by thawing permafrost in Fairbanks, Alaska. In Maine’s Washington, Penobscot and Hancock counties, $23.5 million will go toward the addition of 24 electric buses and chargers. Another $24.9 million will go toward constructing a 300-foot bridge over a rail line in Sharpsburg, Pa., along with additional roadway and a multi-use trail. In Montana, the Blackfeet Reservation will receive $3.6 million for the planning and design of a street reconstruction project to increase access and decrease dependency on motor vehicles.

The percentage of high-function rural roads considered to be in “poor” condition was over 5 in 2020, up from just under 5% in 2011, according to the Bureau of Transpiration Statistics’ 2023 report. For high-function urban roads in the U.S., 19.8% were considered “poor” in 2020, down from 21.4% in 2011. The percentage of the country’s bridges considered to be in “poor condition” fell from 59,305 (around 10%) in 2010 to 42,966 (6.9%) in 2022.

Washington received more funding than any other state with nearly $90 million in grants awarded for projects ranging from a transit maintenance facility and bus fleet modernization to bridge construction to more pedestrian and bike lane planning.

“This is a big deal,” stated U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.). “These investments in projects across Washington state will help move people and freight better. That’s important for our local economies, for quality of life, and for helping community connectivity. Having the federal government provide this grant funding means we will see improvements without the cost being borne entirely by taxpayers in our neck of the woods.”

The Biden administration opened applications for this round of RAISE grants in December 2023. The program aided more than 160 projects in all 50 states in 2023.

The full list of 2024 projects awarded RAISE grants can be found at this link.