The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently requested a 60-day congressional review of its recommendation for $78.88 million in grants to support 10 infrastructure projects — with seven designated in rural areas to enhance accessibility and stimulate the economy.
As proposed, the fiscal year 2017 FASTLANE Small Project grant awards will help improve safety at more than 100 railroad crossings and pay for repairs along almost 250 miles of track and over 70 overpasses, a DOT release said. FASTLANE was established by the FAST (Fixing America's Surface Transportation) Act and is also known as the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (NSFHP) program.
“Transportation is a key to accessing opportunity and improving our quality of life,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. “These targeted investments will assist communities in building infrastructure systems that will improve safety for the traveling public and provide increased access to greater long-term economic opportunity.”
Railroad systems in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Washington and Texas will benefit from the funding, with improvements and repairs mending bridges, upgrading roadways crossing areas, and increasing industrial accessibility to rail connections such as ports and docking facilities.
The $78.88 million FASTLANE funding will yield approximately $217 million in total infrastructure investment, according to DOT officials.
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