How Locals Are Planning to Spend $2.2 Billion in RAISE Transportation Grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Biden administration on August 11, 2022 announced $2.2 billion in RAISE grant funding for transportation projects around the United States. With a 50-50 split between urban and rural projects, the Biden administration has promised to leverage the RAISE program, bolstered with funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to reduce emissions while improving equity, increase options for car-free mobility, improve the sustainability of the nation’s transportation systems.

The Biden administration announced RAISE program in April 2021 as a replacement for the BUILD grant program of the Trump administration, itself a replacement of the TIGER grant program of the Obama administration.  

To allow more scrutiny of the RAISE grant funding round, especially as compared to the Biden administration’s own ambitions and the funding programs of its predecessors, Planetizen has gathered local news coverage and public relations communications on almost all of the programs funded by RAISE this month.

This is part one of this series, listing 83 of the first 84 projects funded (out of a total of 166), with the rest to follow shortly, with part two of the series.

News Coverage

Alabama

• Cordova Road Improvements (Cordova)
  • USDOT awards $27.2 million for Alabama (The News Courier, August 13)
• Pedestrian Access and Redevelopment Corridor (Huntsville)
  • $20 million federal grant paves the way for Huntsville skybridge (Huntsville Real-Time News, August 9)
• Shoals Area Railroad Overpass (Colbert County)
  • $2M grant to provide much-needed railroad overpass in Sheffield (News 19, August 9)

Arizona

• Southern Navajo County Regional Multimodal Planning Study (Navajo County)
  • Navajo County has been awarded a $261,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (Navajo County, August 11)
• Rio Reimagined: 3rd Street Rio Salado Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge (Phoenix)
  • Buttigieg touts bridge across Rio Salado, millions in federal infrastructure spending (Arizona Central, August 12)

Arkansas

• Connect Conway Project (Conway)
  • Conway gets $24.6 million federal grant for trail linking city’s west and east sides (Arkansas Times, August 11)

California

• Inglewood Transit Connector Project (Inglewood)
• Maritime Support Facility Access/Terminal Island Rail System (Los Angeles)
  • Port of LA, Inglewood $35 million combined in federal transportation grants (Los Angeles Daily News, August 10)
• Mobility Zones (Sacramento)
• Zero-Emission Bus Operations, Maintenance, and Administration Facility (Yuba and Sutter)
  • Greater Sacramento Region receives $20 million in federal transportation grants (Fox 40, August 11)
• Tolowa Dee-Ni' Nation (Del Norte County)
  • Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation Receives Federal Grant for U.S. 101 Safety Project in Smith River (Wild Rivers Outpost, August 12)
• California High-Speed Rail: Merced Extension Design Project (Merced)
  • Federal grant to provide half of design funding for Madera-to-Merced high-speed rail design (RT&S, August 11)

Colorado

• The Westward Three Project
• West Side Connector (Pueblo)
  • Colorado transportation projects granted nearly $46M in federal funding (The Gazette, August 10)
• Rio Grande Intermodal Transportation (Alamosa, Colorado)
  • Grant will make new Rio pedestrian bridge a reality (Valley Courier, August 10)

Connecticut

• CT Trail Connections: Building a Network of Trails to Connect People to Jobs (New Britain)
• Waterbury Active Transportation Economic Resurgence (Waterbury)
  • 3 transportation projects in Connecticut to receive federal funding (Fox 61, August 15)
• West Main Street Corridor Planning Project (Stamford)
  • Stamford secures $2.1 million in federal money for West Main Street redesign (Stamford Advocate, August 12)

Delaware

• Route 9 Redefined 
  • RAISE grant aids $90M Delaware highway project (The Center Square, August 18)

Washington, D.C.

• South Capitol Street Rail
  • Pedestrian, bike and transit projects in D.C. area get federal boost (The Washington Post, August 11)

Florida

• Clearwater Multimodal Transit Center (Clearwater)
  • New Clearwater Transit Center Receives $20 Million Federal Grant Boost (Patch, August 11)
• New Berth 301 (Tampa)
  • Port Tampa Bay snags $12.6 million federal grant (Tampa Bay Business Journal, August 10)
• PortMiami Net Zero Program: Cargo Mobility Optimization and Resilience Project (Miami)
  • Getting to Work: Millions in Grants Awarded to South Florida From Infrastructure Law (NBC Miami, August 12)
• East Coast Corridor Trespassing and Intrusion Mitigation Project (South Florida)
• Smart St. Augustine (St. Augustine)
  • FDOT Getting $37 Million in DOT Grants for Florida East Coast Coordinator, St. Augustine (Florida Daily, August 16)

Georgia

• Reimagine North Avenue (Athens-Clarke County)
  • Athens Receives $25 Million Grant to ‘Reimagine North Avenue’ (Flagpole, August 11)

Hawaii

• Waiale Roard Extension Project (Maui)
  • Maui County gets $25 million for Waiale Road extension (Spectrum Local News, August 9)         
• Poipu Road Safety and Mobility (Kauai)
  • County to Receive Nearly $25M for Poʻipū Road Safety And Mobility Project (Kauaʻi Now, August 11)

Idaho

• State Street Premium Corridor (Boise)
  • ‘Much needed’: VRT receives grant to help fuel big changes to State St. (Boise Dev, August 12)

Illinois

• Harvey Intermodal Transportation Center (Harvey)
  • Metra, Pace to use RAISE grant funds for Harvey Transportation Center reconstruction project (Progressive Railroading, August 15)
• Greater Downtown Revitalization Project (East Moline)
  • East Moline receives nearly $24 million grant for downtown revitalization project (KWQC, August 11)
• Englewood Line Trail (Chicago)
  • Englewood Nature Trail, other Illinois walk/bike/transit projects get federal RAISE grants (Streetsblog Chicago, August 12)
• Springfield Rail Improvement Project (Springfield)
  • North Grand Avenue underpass project gets boost from $19.8 million federal grant (State Journal-Register via Yahoo News, August 10)

Indiana

• Ridge Roads Complete Streets (Munster)
  • Federal grant to boost Munster's Ridge Road vision (The Times, August 12)
• Market District Improvement Project (South Bend)
  • City of Bend receives $2.4 million infrastructure grant (ABC 57, August 16)

Iowa

• Developing Connection: Isett Avenue and Cypress Street Reconstruction (Muscatine)
  • Muscatine awarded $2 million grant from Dept. of Transportation for street reconstruction (Muscatine Journal, August 10)
• La Porte Road Revitalization (Waterloo)
  • Waterloo receives $20.5 million to transform La Porte Road (The Courier, August 12)

Kansas

• Old Smokey Hill River Bridge Replacement (Salina)
  • Salina receives more than $22 million from US govt. for Smoky Hill River renewal project (Salina Journal via Yahoo News, August 12)
• Flint Hills Trail Connection Communities, Cultures, and Landscapes
  • Grant will extend, improve Kansas' Flint Hills Trail State park (The Joplin Globe, August 18)

Kentucky

• Broadway All the Way (Louisville)
• Reimagine 9th Street (Louisville)
  • 'We need a more connected city'; New federal funding to help do away with '9th Street Divide' in Louisville (WHAS 11, August 11)

Louisiana

• Downtown Baton Rouge and Gonzalez Tran Station Project (Baton Rouge and Gonzalez)
  • Louisiana Awarded $20M for Baton Rouge-New Orleans Passenger Rail (Biz New Orleans, August 10)
• Natchitoches Safe Streets Revitalization Project (Natchitoches)
  • DOTD RAISE grant funds historic $17.2M street revitalization project (Natchitoches Times, August 12)
• Ferry Road Improvement Project (Plaquemines Parish)
• Valentine Pontoon Bridge Replacement (Lafourche Parish)
  • Louisiana to Receive Federal RAISE Grants for Infrastructure (L‘Observateur, August 11)

• Shreveport Healthcare and Development Corridor (Shreveport)
  Millions of dollars to be invested in Shreveport healthcare corridor (KTBS, August 15)

Maine

• Interstate 95 at Hogan Road Improvement Project (Bangor)
  • Almost $25M from feds will help Maine overhaul Hogan Road interchange in Bangor (Bangor Daily News, August 8)

Maryland

• Building Baltimore Penn Station Connections (Baltimore)
  • Federal funding will be used to enhance Baltimore Penn Station (The Center Square, August 12)
• New Carrollton Multi-Modal Transportation Station Project (Prince George’s County)
  • $20.5 million for New Carrollton Station expansion, improvements announced (South Maryland News, August 16)

Massachusetts

• Roxbury Resilient Transportation Corridors (Boston)
  • Pressley secures $20 million for Roxbury transportation projects (The Bay State Banner, August 11)

Michigan

• Detroit Mobility and Innovation Corridor (Detroit)
  • Mobility Corridor Along Michigan Avenue in Detroit Lands $25M Grant (DBusiness, August 15)
• Downtown Kalamazoo Transportation Network (Kalamazoo)
  • $5.9M grant will help transform Kalamazoo’s downtown street network (MLive, August 9)
• Northern Michigan Rail Planning Phase II Study and Service Development Plan
  • $2.3M will fuel long-awaited study for northern Michigan rail line (Traverse City Record Eagle, August 19)
• Ozhitoon Mino-Bimaadiziwin Project (Sault Ste. Marie)
  • Sault Tribe receives $19 million grant for transportation (The Sault News, August 13)

Minnesota

• Big Woods Transit Facility Construction (Bois Forte Indian Reservation)
• Station 73 Transit and Regional Improvement Program (Plymouth)
  • 6 transportation projects in Minnesota get $100M federal funding (Bring Me the News, August 11)
• 6th Street Bridge Construction Project (Rochester)
  • Rochester bridge project gets $19.9 million federal grant (KIMT, August 11)
• Hwy 197 (Paul Bunyan Drive) Safety and Mobility Improvement Project (Bemidji)
  • MnDOT awarded $18 million grant for Highway 197 reconstruction in Bemidji (The Bemidji Pioneer, August 15)
• Lake Street Multimodal Improvements to Enhance BRT (Hennepin County)
  • Hennepin County investing millions in Lake Street redevelopment plans (KARE 11, August 13)
• West Superior Street Active Transportation Corridor (Duluth)
  • Federal Government Funding $25 Million Of Duluth’s West Superior Street Reconstruction Project (Fox 21, August 12)

Mississippi

• Yazoo City Main Street Revitalization Project (Yazoo City, Mississippi)
  • Mississippi receives $15.4M in transportation infrastructure investments (The Center Square, August 10)
• Tupelo Rail Improvements Program (Tupelo, Mississippi)
  • Tupelo to receive $1.5 million grant for railroad projects (Daily Journal, August 11)
• Tanglefoot Trail Extension (Ripley, Mississippi)
• Mississippi infrastructure grants include $1.4 million for possible Tanglefoot Trail expansion from New Albany to Ripley (Southern Sentinel, August 17)

Press Releases

Alaska

• Marine Service Center Sheetpile Wall and Crane (Sitka)
• Ekuk Road Project (Clarks Point)
• Qawalangin Tribe Port Infrastructure Improvement Project (Unalaska)
  • Murkowski Announces Over $57 Million in Additional Infrastructure Funding for Alaskan Communities (Senator Lisa Murkowski, August 13)

Arizona

• 22nd Street Revitalization Project (Tucson, Arizona)
  • Rep. Kirkpatrick Announces Unprecedented Grant for City of Tucson 22nd Street Revitalization Project (Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, August 11)

California

• Building a Better Connected Inland Empire (Fontana)
  • Padilla, Feinstein Announce Over $119 Million in RAISE Grants to Support California Transportation Infrastructure Projects (Senator Alex Padilla, August 10)
• Transforming Howard Street for Safe and Equitable Mobility (San Francisco)
  • San Francisco Receives $23 Million Federal Grant for Safer Streets (Office of the Mayor, London Breed, August 10)

Georgia

• Five Points Transformation Phase 2 (Atlanta)
  • MARTA Awarded Federal Grant For Five Points Station Transformation (MARTA via SaportaReport, August 15)

Idaho

• Reconnecting Accessibility and Improving Safety and Equity in Nampa (Nampa)
• Access to Opportunity Planning Project (Ada County, Idaho)
• Wood River Valley Mobility Corridor Improvements (Blaine County, Idaho)
  • Idaho awarded $30.9M in Federal grants to modernize transportation statewide (Idaho Transportation Department, August 12)

Maine

• Downtown Sanford Village Partnership Initiative (Sanford)
  • Sanford Awarded $25M in Federal Funds for Downtown Revitalization Project (Maine Department of Transportation via Sanford Springvale News, August 12)

Massachusetts

• Lynnway Multimodal Corridor (Lynn, Massachusetts)
  • Federal Funding Approved for Lynnway Multimodal Corridor Project (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, August 12)