WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $38.9 million for four projects in Texas, part of $1.8 billion in awards from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. Today’s awards fund 148 projects nationwide and bring the total amount of Biden-Harris Administration RAISE grants to more than $7.2 billion for over 550 projects across the country.
“After decades of underinvestment, the condition of America’s infrastructure is now finally getting better instead of worse – and today we proudly announce our support for 148 more projects in communities of every size across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding projects across the country to make roads safer, make it easier for people to move around their community, make transportation infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather, and improve supply chains to keep costs down for consumers.”
The competitive and popular RAISE program, which was authorized $1.5 billion a year on top of already appropriated funds thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supports a diverse slate of communities with projects of local and regional significance. Funding is split equally between urban and rural areas, and a large percentage of grants support regions defined as historically disadvantaged or areas of persistent poverty. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors, including state and local governments, counties, Tribal governments, transit agencies, and port authorities, to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other grant programs. RAISE discretionary grants invest in critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects that would otherwise not receive the funding needed if not for President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
RAISE is a keystone program of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, rebuilding and repairing critical infrastructure using American-made materials and spurring historic levels of private sector investment in regions around the country. Investing in key transportation infrastructure initiatives through programs like RAISE is growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up, lowering costs for families, and creating good-paying, union jobs for American workers in their home communities.
As in years past, the demand for RAISE funding outpaced available funds, with the Department receiving almost $13 billion in requests for the $1.8 billion available this year.
Projects in Texas announced today include:
$900,000 for the El Paso County Equitable Mobility Plan in El Paso – This project will develop a county-wide plan that will address transportation disparities, promote social equity, enhance access to transportation resources and opportunities, and guide future design plans and projects. This plan will help to increase access to daily destinations and promote denser development patterns so residents have shorter travel distances and greater access to destinations. The project will also develop recommendations to encourage residents to utilize public transit options such as the Sun Metro Mass Transit.
$5,081,700 for the Chapin Street Corridor Planning Project in Edinburg – This project will fund the preliminary engineering for the redesign of approximately 3.8-miles of Chapin Street from Trooper Moises Sanchez Boulevard (SH 336) to I-69C. The design work will address roadway upgrades , a shared-use path, pedestrian crossings, traffic signal upgrades, bridge upgrade, infrastructure removal, drainage improvements, and an EV charging station. The new Chapin Street Corridor will provide more efficient accessibility and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists who will link to the Valley Metro stops in Edinburg.
$8,000,000 for the Culebra Road Improvement Project in San Antonio – This project will fund the planning, design, and environmental work for safety and multimodal improvements along an approximately 5-mile segment of Culebra Road—currently one of the deadliest roads in San Antonio—from I-410 (Loop 410) to General McMullen Drive. The project will include numerous safety and accessibility improvements including ADA-compliant sidewalks, crossings, dedicated bicycle facilities, transit stops, street trees, traffic calming, and green infrastructure. The new Culebra Road design will increase affordable transportation options in an underserved community where more than half of all households are low-income.
$25,000,000 for the Dallas County Inland Port (DCIP) Multimodal Connectivity Project in Dallas County – This project will upgrade Belt Line Road from Alba Road to east of Mason Road and Sunrise Road from Pleasant Run Road to the Loop 9 frontage roads. The project will widen 2-lane roadways to 4-lane divided facilities with side paths and sidewalks, reducing traffic congestion and protecting pedestrians and bikers from safety risks. These roadway upgrades will also improve the resilience of at-risk infrastructure to be better able to withstand extreme weather events and natural disasters caused by climate change.
The full list of projects can be viewed here.
The RAISE program is one of several competitive grant programs providing funding to communities across the country under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. To date across the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly $454 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has been announced to more than 57,000 specific projects in all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories.
For more information on the RAISE program, click HERE.
For more on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investments across America, including state-by-state, click here: Investing In America | The White House
