The United States Department of Transportation has ramped up its efforts for the revitalization of the road infrastructure throughout the country. Due to a large increase of appropriations in 2018, it has decided to award a total of $1.5 billion in grants in order to fund various projects in every state. This includes road construction projects and bridge construction projects which account for over two thirds of the total grants being provided by the Department of Transportation.
Also known as the “Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development” (BUILD) grants, the Department of Transportation said that it has divided the funds among 91 projects taking place across 49 states in the country with one of the divisions dedicated to the District of Columbia. Let’s review some of the major road construction projects being funded by the BUILD grants provided by the Department of Transportation.
Lower Yukon River Regional Port and Road Renovation Project
Taking place in Alaska, this road construction project is going to see $23.1 million dollars of investment by the United States Department of Transportation. This project is going to focus on the repair and upgrade of approximately 3.5 miles of service roads. It will also include the construction of a permanent barge or landing craft ramp, as well as a new dock having two berths with the capacity to hold 500-ton barges.
I-49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector
This road construction project is in the state of Arkansas and has been assigned $25 million. This project will include the construction of a new 4.8 mile long interstate facility between the state of Missouri and the state of Arkansas. The interstate facility is going to consist of 4 lanes, which will connect the southwest Missouri bypassing the US-71 and connecting to the Interstate 49 in Arkansas.
Hot Springs Bypass Extension
Taking place in the state of Arkansas, this road construction project will have a total of $20 million being allocated to it. The project will see the Hot Springs East-West Arterial Bypass extended. Once the project is completed, the bypass will extend from the interchange of the United States Highway 70 to the intersection between Highways 5 and 7. This extended bypass will comprise 8 foot shoulders and 12 foot travel lanes.
State Highway 157 Widening Project
In the state of Alabama, the budget for this road construction project is $14 million. This project is going to focus on widening a section of the State Highway 157 between US-21 and State Highway 69. The project will see this 3.5 miles of highway being widened from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. Moreover, as part of this project, there will also be a construction of a walking and biking trail along the part of the project between the Childhaven Road and Eva Road. Along with the widening of the highway, the project will also see an improvement of the broadband fiber infrastructure.
Verde Connect – State Route to Middle Verde Road
Assigned $25 million by the United States, Department of Transportation, this project is taking place in the state of Arizona. The road construction project will see 1.7 miles of a new two lane roadway and bridge being constructed across the Verde River. This will essentially connect the Town of Camp Verde and the Yavapai-Apache Nation to the State Route 260 corridor, which is the most significant state highway in the region. This new road construction will also see to the widening of the road in order to accommodate bicycle traffic through paved shoulders.
North Country Corridor Project
$20 million has been granted to this road construction project in the state of California. As part of the project, there will be construction of a 3-mile long section of the State Route 108 North County Corridor. This new segment will consist of six lanes of a controlled access expressway. This will essentially move the State Route 108 to the south of the town of Riverbank as a part of the 18 mile long expressway, which will bypass the communities of Modesto, Riverbank and Oakdale.
South Midland Avenue Reconstruction and Rural Broadband Project
$7 million is being allocated to this project in Colorado. This road construction project will include the reconstruction of the South Midland Avenue. As part of the improvements being made to the road, the lanes will be expanded and curbs and gutters will be added to the road. The three intersections and a consolidation of the driveway accesses will also be a part of this improvement project.
State Route 46 Widening Segment 4B
Another project in the state of California, the State Route 46 project will see $17.5 million of funds from the Department of Transportation. The road construction project will see the 5.3 mile long segment of the State Route 46 widened from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. The State Route 46 widening project will also see to the addition of an 18 meter median that will upgrade the seven intersections. Based on this change, the road will also become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which will add a mile of sidewalks and a bicycle lane along with the construction of a new bridge.
Final Thoughts
The project announcement was made on the 11th of December. The names of the projects were announced in the days after the initial announcement of the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grants. This allocation of funds is the largest that has been assigned since 2009, which was then called the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery or the TIGER grant. Over $1 billion of the funds were divided among 60 different road construction projects across the United States.
Sources:
https://www.enr.com/articles/46035-us-dot-awards-15b-in-build-infrastructure-grants
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-elaine-l-chao-announces-15-billion-build-transportation
