The 9 US construction projects sharing $1.2 billion in government grants

Road building features heavily in the infrastructure grants package. Photo: Adobe Stock

Nine major construction projects will share a total of US$1.2 billion in government grants, the US Department of Transport (DOT) has announced.

The awards come under the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) discretionary grant program.

The projects selected are:

1. $292 million for Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, Section 3 in New York: This award will help fund the final section of concrete casing intended to preserve future right-of-way for the new Hudson River Tunnel and lay the groundwork for the Gateway Project. Once completed, the Hudson Tunnel project will improve commute times, Amtrak reliability on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and support the NEC regional economy, home to 17% of the US population.
2. $250 million for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project in Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. The funding will cover the construction of a new bridge alongside the existing Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio river. The US government has previously announced funding for the project as part of a $2.1 billion package to improve bridges in the country.
3. $150 million for the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement project in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The existing bridge is structurally and functionally deficient, resulting in significant freight bottlenecks. The project involves designing and building a new bridge over the Calcasieu river with three travel lanes and one auxiliary lane in each direction.
4. $117 million for the Metra UP North Rebuild: Fullerton to Addison in Chicago, Illinois. The funding will replace 11 bridges, four miles of track on the commuter railroad, and more than 1.75 miles of retaining walls.
5. $85 million for the I-44 and US-75 Corridor Improvements Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The work will involve upgrading the interchange and making pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements. The area currently has a crash rate almost double the statewide average and the project will add safety features.
6. $60 million for improvements to the I-10 Freight Corridor in Diamondhead, Mississippi. Work will involve widening the I-10 from four to six lanes just west of Diamondhead to just east of Country Farm Road. It will also include intelligent transportation system (ITS) improvements from 1.5 miles west of the SR 603/43 interchange to two miles east of US 49.
7. $110 million to replace North Carolina’s Alligator River Bridge (Dare and Tyrrell Counties, North Carolina). The existing machinery-driven movable swing bridge is a critical hurricane evacuation route and is in a deteriorated condition. The award will support construction of a modern, high-rise fixed-span bridge.

8. $78 million for the Roosevelt Boulevard Multimodal Project (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): Roosevelt Boulevard currently has one of the highest crash rates in Philadelphia, accounting for 14% of all crash-related fatalities in the city. This project will make improvements along approximately 12 miles of the Boulevard to improve safety and accessibility for all users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

9. $30 million for the Watsonville-Cruz Multimodal Corridor programme in Santa Cruz County, California. The funding will cover a new auxiliary lane and bus on shoulder access on State Route 1 and new bicycle and pedestrian overcrossings as part of the New Coastal Rail Trail

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “From the Hoover Dam to the Golden Gate Bridge, some infrastructure projects are so large and complex that they defy traditional funding systems - and so significant that they become iconic parts of the American landscape.”

An aerial view of the Brent Spence truss bridge over the Ohio River while it was closed for repairs (Image: Adobe Stock)

“After receiving over 100 applications, we are proud to fund these nine infrastructure megaprojects across the country to create jobs, strengthen our supply chains, expand our economy and renew America’s built landscape.”

The Mega grant program, created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funds projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects that are a part of one of the other project types.

The Mega program will invest a total of $5 billion through 2026 to help rebuild the United States’ infrastructure. For this application cycle, the US Department of Transportation received applications requesting approximately $30 billion in funding, exceeding the $1 billion of funding available in 2022.