U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Mayor Jim Kenney and other officials tour the site of the I-95 bridge collapse in Northeast Philadelphia.
Jack Tomczuk
In an effort to revitalize communities across the country, the Biden-Harris administration has dedicated $86 million to four projects in Pennsylvania. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that these grants are part of $1.8 billion in awards from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program.
“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,” said Buttigieg. “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.”
A keystone program of Biden’s Investing in America agenda, RAISE is a program designed to rebuild and repair critical infrastructure using American-made materials, such as roads, railways, bridges, and more, while creating union jobs.
The four projects in Pennsylvania will include a $15,000,000 grant for the Codorus Greenway project in York; a $21,395,555 grant for the Westpark Redevelopment Infrastructure Project in Philadelphia; a $24,944,683 grant for the Reconnecting the Allegheny Riverfront to Economic Opportunity Project in Sharpsburg; and a $25,000,000 the Regional Operations and Maintenance Facility and Transit Center in Harrisburg.
The Codorus Greenway project will construct a waterfront trail with improvements to flood control infrastructure along Codorus Creek. The trail will connect underprivileged communities to essential destinations through a path that will separate bikes and pedestrians from vehicles on the road in order to prevent hazardous incidents.
Here in Philadelphia, the Westpark Redevelopment Infrastructure Project will construct an extension of the existing street grid to connect the Westpark campus to a rail station and will support improved pedestrian infrastructure to facilitate the redevelopment of the Westpark Apartments, located near 46th and Market streets. The reconnection will improve access for returning residents and increase the supply of affordable housing connected to existing infrastructure, including rail, bus, bike, and pedestrian system services.
The Reconnecting the Allegheny Riverfront to Economic Opportunity Project in Sharpsburg will construct a bridge over the Conemaugh rail line, measuring roughly 300 feet in length. This project will protect non-motorized travelers from safety hazards with the construction of sidewalks and rail crossings. It will also construct an additional roadway that connects to the riverfront district, a multi-use trail on the shoreline of the river, and is set to make improvements to roughly six bus stops along Main Street. This project also works toward Sharpsburg’s effort to make the area more environmentally friendly, as they hope for it to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Finally, the Regional Operations and Maintenance Facility and Transit Center in Harrisburg will construct a new maintenance and operations transit facility that is Compressed Natural Gas-compliant for the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority. This new facility will resolve several safety issues associated with the existing transit center. It will also be relocated out of the flood plain, include energy efficiencies, and feature a stormwater management system.
For more information on the RAISE program, visit transportation.gov/RAISEgrants