USDOT awards $2.2 billion in RAISE grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced more than $2.2 billion in funding from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program will be awarded to 166 rail and other transportation projects.

Rail-related projects and their grant awards include:

• $25 million for the California High-Speed Rail Authority's extension from Madera to Merced, including civil infrastructure, track and systems along the Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield early operating segment;

• $20 million for the Port of Los Angeles maritime support facility access and Terminal Island rail system project, which calls for construction of a four-lane, rail-roadway grade separation. The project will eliminate an impediment to truck access to a container terminal support facility located on Terminal Island at the center of the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach complex;

• $15 million for the Inglewood Transit Connector project in California, which calls for completion of a 1.6-mile, fully elevated automated transit system with three stations. The project will fill a gap on the region's transit system on segments along Market Street, Manchester Boulevard and Prairie Avenue;

• $15.4 million for Mississippi infrastructure projects, including construction of a new train station in Yazoo and rail infrastructure improvements in Tupelo; and  

• $13.6 million for the Port of Arthur in Texas to convert 25 acres of an abandoned rail yard into a multimodal area.

This year's RAISE grants are planning and capital investments that help support projects involving roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation, USDOT officials said in a press release. Half of the funding is designated for projects in rural areas. This year’s allocations include more than $2.2 billion as a result of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provides an additional $7.5 billion over five years to help projects get moving across the country, USDOT officials said in a press release.

"We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America’s transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible and more sustainable," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

A full list of the projects can be found here.