Written by
Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will distribute $1 billion among 70 surface transportation infrastructure projects in 44 states through its Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program. The Fiscal Year 2020 program is for planning and capital investments.
Program selection criteria included safety, economic competitiveness, quality of life, state of good repair, environmental sustainability, innovation, and partnerships with a range of stakeholders. And 50% of BUILD grant funding was awarded to rural-area projects, consistent with the USDOT’s R.O.U.T.E.S. initiative.
For this round of BUILD Transportation grants, the maximum grant award was $25 million, and no more than $100 million could be awarded to a single state, as specified in the appropriations act.
Here are 12 capital-award recipients, whose projects include a passenger or freight rail component:
• Arkansas Department of Transportation: $4 million will go toward construction of a new two-lane rural highway in Monticello (from State Highway 83 Spur/Scogin Drive approximately 1.25 miles north to U.S. Highway 278). The $16.7 million project also includes a grade-separated overpass of the Arkansas Midland Railroad and the addition of turn lanes at Jordan Drive and Scogin Drive.
• California Department of Transportation: $20 million for the Stockton Diamond Grade Separation project. The project, which will cost a total of $237.12 million, includes grade separation of Union Pacific and BNSF Railway mainlines and local roadway improvements along the lines. (For more details, click here.)
• Town of Castle Rock, Colorado: $5.4 million will go toward pre-construction work and right-of-way acquisition for building the Crystal Valley Parkway Interchange and associated roadway improvements. Plans for the project to be eventually completed include a new interchange on I-25 at Douglas Lane, five new miles of roadway, and relocation of the existing frontage road to eliminate four at-grade unprotected railroad crossings.
• Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA): $15 million to help replace RTA’s aging railcar fleet. RTA will purchase 34 heavy rail vehicles for operation along the Red Line. The GCRTA Rail Car Replacement Program-Phase 1 is expected to cost $125 million, and will also include associated infrastructure upgrades to the rail maintenance facility, equipment and stations to accommodate the new cars.
• America’s Central Port District: $20.8 million to be used for the St. Louis Bi-State Regional Ports Improvement Project, which is expected to cost about $26.1 million. At America’s Central Port in Granite City, Ill., the project includes about 2,050 linear feet of new railroad track, a new terminal access roadway, a new belt system, and a barge loading system replacement. At St. Louis Port Authority, Mo., the project includes approximately 7,300 linear feet of new railroad track, barge loading equipment modernization work, conveyor replacement, loading shed updates, and flood mitigation work. At Southwest Regional Port District, Ill., the project includes loading shed and electrical system updates, hoist system and barge loading upgrades, and flood mitigation work.
• Polk County, Iowa: $25 million for the Broadway Avenue Multimodal Improvements project. The project will reconstruct approximately five miles of a two-lane rural arterial into a three-lane urban road at a total cost of $39.9 million. Work will include a new underpass for grade separation at a dual railroad crossing, increased vertical clearance of Broadway Avenue under the I-235 overpass, addition of a paved multiuse trail, and installation of a fiber-optic traffic signal…
Read More: USDOT Awards $1 Billion for 70 Infrastructure Projects