Investing in America: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $12.5M From the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Transformational Infrastructure Project in Wisconsin
Funding from USDOT’s INFRA and Mega grant programs are helping build complex, ambitious projects across the country that improve safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $12.5 million for funding in Wisconsin as part of more than $4.2 billion in funding from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda through two major discretionary grant programs, the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program, both of which have historic levels of funding thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris administration is carrying out ambitious, complex transportation projects that will shape our country’s infrastructure for generations to come,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With this latest round of awards, dozens of major and much-needed projects – projects that are often difficult to fund through other means – are getting the long-awaited investments they need to move forward.”
Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly $12.8 billion in funding through the INFRA and Mega programs has been announced for 140 projects across 42 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, including approximately:
- 35 large bridge projects
- 18 large port projects
- 20 rail projects
- 85 highway improvement projects
Approximately 53% of projects that have received funding to date are in rural communities, and about 42% of projects are located in disadvantaged communities, delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 commitment.
In today’s round of selections, Wisconsin will be receiving $12,500,000 for I-43 Safety Rest Areas and Truck Parking Expansions through the INFRA program. The project will replace both the Rest Area 51 Maribel and Rest Area 52 Denmark facilities along I-43 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Each of the sites would include razing and construction of a new comfort building, maintenance garage, and parking lots for both automobiles and trucks. The capacity of truck parking would increase by a total of 72 stalls. Additionally, lighting would be replaced throughout both facilities, ingress/egress roadways would be reconstructed to accommodate the addition of truck parking stalls, pavement will br improved, and substandard beam guard will be removed.
Applications opened in March under a joint notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for this year’s $5.1 billion Multimodal Discretionary Grant Program, or MPDG, which allows applicants to submit one application for consideration under the Mega, INFRA, and Rural grant programs.
As with last year’s awards, despite these historic increases in funding, these programs were significantly oversubscribed. The Department received approximately 200 INFRA and Mega applications requesting more than $27 billion in funding, far exceeding the amount of funding available.
Applications for the MPDG grants were evaluated based on the criteria published in the NOFO. The criteria included safety; state of good repair; economic impacts, freight movements and job creation; climate change, resilience, and the environment; equity, multimodal options and quality of life; and innovation areas such as technology, project delivery, and financing. The Department also considered cost effectiveness, project readiness, and certain statutory requirements related to funding and design in evaluating the MPDG applications received. Rural Surface Transportation grant applications are still under evaluation, and the Department anticipates announcing selections by January 2025.
More information about the Mega, INFRA, and Rural programs can be found here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Recent Press Releases by U.S. Department of Transportation
Investing in America: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $12.5M From the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Transformational Infrastructure Project in Wisconsin
Oct 21st, 2024 by U.S. Department of TransportationFunding from USDOT’s INFRA and Mega grant programs are helping build complex, ambitious projects across the country that improve safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness
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