Four projects in Texas will be funded by $38.9 million from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity discretionary grant program, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Wednesday.
The funding is part of $1.8 billion in awards from the program.
Overall, the awards announced Wednesday will fund 148 projects nationwide and bring the total amount of the Biden administration’s RAISE grants to more than $7.2 billion for over 550 projects across the country, a news release said. All 50 states, four territories and the District of Columbia will receive RAISE grants this year, the news release said.
“After decades of underinvestment, the condition of America’s infrastructure is now finally getting better instead of worse — and today we proudly announce our support for 148 more projects in communities of every size across the country,” Buttigieg said in the news release. “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.”
The program supports diverse communities with locally and regionally significant projects.
Funding is split equally between urban and rural areas. A large percentage of the grants support regions defined as historically disadvantaged or areas of persistent poverty, the news release said.
The RAISE eligibility requirements allow project sponsors, including state and local governments, counties, tribal governments, transit agencies, and port authorities, to pursue multimodal and multijurisdictional projects that are difficult to fund through other grant programs, according to the news release.
The discretionary grants invest in critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects.
The news release states that RAISE is a keystone program of Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild and repair critical infrastructure using U.S.-made materials. It added that key transportation infrastructure initiatives are helping grow the economy, while lowering costs for families and creating good-paying jobs for U.S. workers.
The news release states that the demand for RAISE funding outpaced available funds, with the Transportation Department receiving almost $13 billion in requests for the $1.8 billion available this year.
Projects in Texas announced Wednesday are:
- $900,000 for the El Paso County Equitable Mobility Plan in El Paso. The project will develop a countywide plan to address transportation disparities, promote social equity, enhance access to transportation resources and opportunities, and guide future design plans and projects. It will help increase access to daily destinations and promote denser development patterns so residents have to travel shorter distances and have better access to destinations. The project also will develop recommendations to encourage residents to use public transit options, such as the Sun Metro Mass Transit.
- $5,081,700 for the Chapin Street Corridor Planning Project in Edinburg. The project will fund the preliminary engineering for the redesign of approximately 3.8-miles of Chapin Street from Trooper Moises Sanchez Boulevard (SH 336) to I-69C. The design work will include roadway upgrades, a shared-use path, pedestrian crossings, traffic signal upgrades, bridge upgrade, infrastructure removal, drainage improvements, and an EV charging station. The new Chapin Street Corridor will offer more efficient accessibility and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists linked to Valley Metro stops in Edinburg.
- $8 million for the Culebra Road Improvement Project in San Antonio. This project will fund planning, design, and environmental work for safety and multimodal improvements along an approximately 5-mile segment of Culebra Road — which is currently one of the deadliest roads in San Antonio — from I-410 (Loop 410) to General McMullen Drive. The project will include safety and accessibility improvements, including ADA-compliant sidewalks, crossings, dedicated bicycle facilities, transit stops, street trees, traffic calming, and green infrastructure. The new Culebra Road design will increase affordable transportation options in an underserved community where more than half of all households are low-income.
- $25 million for the Dallas County Inland Port Multimodal Connectivity Project in Dallas County. The project will upgrade Belt Line Road from Alba Road to east of Mason Road and Sunrise Road from Pleasant Run Road to the Loop 9 frontage roads. The project will widen two-lane roadways to four-lane divided facilities with side paths and sidewalks, reducing traffic congestion and protecting pedestrians and bicyclists from safety risks. The roadway upgrades also will improve the resilience of at-risk infrastructure to be better able to withstand extreme weather events and natural disasters caused by climate change.
The full list of projects can be viewed here.
The RAISE program is one of several competitive grant programs that provide funding to communities across the country under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The news release said that so far, nearly $454 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has been announced for more than 57,000 specific projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
For more information on the RAISE program, click here.
For more on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investments across the nation, visit Investing In America | The White House.