Rhode Island, Maryland, Idaho Seek Grants From DOT for Infrastructure Improvements
This story appears in the Jan. 9 print edition of Transport Topics.
Transportation officials from Rhode Island, Maryland and Idaho were among the applicants seeking federal grants to help pay for improvements to critical freight corridors in their states.
The U.S. Department of Transportation solicited applications through Dec. 15 for $850 million in grants to improve freight corridors. When reached by Transport Topics, a DOT spokesman would not say how many applications the department had received. Rhode Island DOT, however, indicated grant winners would be announced this month.
In the Ocean State, officials applied for $59 million to assist the state with an enhancement of the interchange of state Routes 6 and 10 in Providence near Interstate 95 and the Providence Viaduct, both northbound.
The $226.1 million viaduct project would aim to improve traffic flow from the Routes 6/10 corridor, while enhancing pedestrian access, and creating 7.3 acres of park land.
The viaduct cuts through I-95 between the 6/10 interchange and State Route 146.
Built more than 50 years ago, the corridor was designed to handle 57,000 vehicles a day. The state now estimates that 220,000 vehicles travel through it daily. Four of the six bridges along the corridor are in need of repairs.
The corridor experiences New England’s third-highest volume of traffic, according to state transportation officials.
“This is a competitive process, and I am pleased to support the state’s application. This project has the opportunity to generate jobs and economic development while reducing congestion and improving public safety,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the transportation funding subcommittee, said in a statement the state DOT released Dec. 16.
“Rebuilding our highways and bridges creates jobs, protects drivers and makes Rhode Island a more attractive place to do business,” added Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, also a Democrat from Rhode Island. “Rebuilding this interchange is an enormously important project for our state, and I will continue to fight for every federal dollar possible to get it done.”
In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said his transportation department applied for a federal freight grant to help pay for a widening project along Interstate 81. Maryland DOT did not indicate the amount of their grant request.
The project starts at the base of the bridges over the Potomac River at the border with West Virginia. Construction crews will complete the project in stages to allow traffic to flow during construction. The West Virginia Department of Transportation provided $40 million toward the project.
“These improvements to I-81 are critical infrastructure investments that will help citizens here in Washington County, across Western Maryland, and all across our state go about their daily lives in a faster, more efficient, and safer manner,” Hogan said, in a Dec. 22 statement.
In Idaho, a spokeswoman told TT the transportation department applied for a $54 million grant from the federal freight program. If received, the funds would be used to help pay for an 11-mile widening project between Caldwell and Nampa. About 80,000 vehicles travel through that corridor daily, the state transportation department indicated.
The 2015 FAST Act highway law established the Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies, or FASTLANE, freight grants. In July, U.S. DOT picked 18 projects to split $759 million in fiscal 2016 for freight projects.
The Florida Department of Transportation won $10.7 million from FASTLANE in July to help pay for a $23 million truck parking project. The project would deploy a real-time information system about commercial-vehicle parking availability to help truckers find parking.
“FASTLANE grants give us an opportunity to identify and invest strategically in those projects that are critical to keeping our nation’s economic engine running,” Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said, in a statement prior to the Dec. 15 deadline.
