Feds award $2.2B for bridge, road projects

PHOENIX — U.S. transportation officials have announced $2.2 billion for local infrastructure projects, paving the way for new bridges, roads, bike lanes, railways and ports in scores of communities across the country.

The competitive grants are more than double the amount awarded the previous year under the same program. The influx comes from a $1 trillion infrastructure law backed by President Joe Biden, which provided an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the grants.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects would help modernize America’s transportation systems.

“This is a program that recognizes many of the most interesting and compelling ideas and designs and plans aren’t going to come from Washington, but more of the funding should,” Buttigieg said Thursday. “That’s what we’re delivering here.”

For many road improvement grants, “we’re doing it in mind of also benefiting the bike and pedestrian side,” Buttigieg said.

Other newly announced projects in the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program also provide funding for bicycle and pedestrian paths.

A total of 166 projects across the country are getting a slice of the $2.2 billion. The funding marks a significant increase from the $983 million distributed among 90 projects in 2021.

Though still substantial, the funding doesn’t have quite as much buying power as anticipated when the infrastructure legislation passed Congress last year. That’s because inflation has driven up the cost of key transportation construction materials, such as steel plates for bridges and asphalt for paving roads.