State receives $16.3 million for road repair

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $16.3 million in emergency relief money to state and federal agencies in Arkansas to repair roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters, ranging from the Arkansas River flooding in 2019 to the effects Hurricane Barry had on southwest Arkansas earlier this year.

The money was part of $574 million Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced Tuesday to help 39 states and Puerto Ricob repair roads and bridges damaged by storms, floods and other unanticipated events, according to a news release.

“This $574 million in federal funding will help states repair and rebuild roads and bridges damaged from natural disasters,” Chao said in the release.

California received the most money, $64 million. The amount included $34 million for the November 2018 wildfires that included the wildfire taking 88 lives. Nebraska received $46 million for winter storms and flooding damage in 2019.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation received most of the money afforded state and federal agencies, a little more than $13 million.

Where the money was going precisely wasn’t immediately available from the department Tuesday afternoon.

“These are funds we applied for due to the damage we incurred,” said Randy Ort, a top agency official.

According to information provided by a U.S. Transportation Department spokeswoman, the money included $7.9 million for damage severe flooding of the Arkansas River on highways along the river in June 2019 between Fort Smith and Pendleton in southeast Arkansas. The money also will reimburse the department to repair several bridges between Fort Smith and Little Rock.

The department received an additional $1.2 million for landslide and flooding damage in other parts of the state, also in June 2019.

Another $3.9 million was awarded to the department for damage caused in July 2019 by the outer bands of Hurricane Barry “dumping heavy rain” in southwest Arkansas causing flash flooding and slides, according to the federal agency spokeswoman.

Other agencies receiving money from the emergency relief program administered by the Federal Highway Administration included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forestry Service.

The corps received $1.7 million to repair road damage at several of the agency’s recreation areas because of heavy rain and flooding in May 2019.

The Forest Service received $700,000 to repair a landslide on a section of Morgan Mountain Road near Beech Grove Road within Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Franklin County.

The Fish and Wildlife Service received about $163,000 to repair road damage at various refuges as a result of “extreme weather and significant storm and flooding events in February 2019,” according to the spokeswoman.

“These funds will help reimburse states for needed repairs to vital transportation infrastructure that residents rely upon for daily travel,” Federal Highway Administrator Nicole Nason said.

Since January 2017, the federal government has provided nearly $4.9 billion in emergency-relief money to repair roads and bridges.