Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $44.7 million for three projects in New York, 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 New York announced today include:
- $5,664,000 for the Urban Freight Mobility Collaborative in New York City – The project will support planning activities to develop guiding principles and freight prioritization metrics, data collection, pilot programs and strategies, and stakeholder and community involvement plan. The aim is to encourage the replacement of freight vehicles with cargo bikes, waterborne freight, and cleaner alternative fuel vehicles and will work to hasten the adoption of zero- emission freight vehicles by identifying locations for EV charging infrastructure, cargo bicycle parking, and docking for zero-emission barges. The project will also focus on the implementation of last-mile freight plans using multimodal approaches that will not block the right-of-way or sidewalks, thereby allowing more ADA curbside access.
- $15,000,000 for the Interborough Express Light Rail Transit – Corridor Profile Planning Assessment in New York City – The project will prepare an assessment for the Interborough Express (IBX) project, which is a high-capacity light rail transit link that will provide a critical direct public transit connection between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The project will shift travelers from higher-risk modes of travel and make street-level improvements that will further improve safety for everyone. Additionally, improvements to the transit system in the area will increase access to daily destinations and support location-efficient land uses.
- $24,123,369 for the Reclaiming the Downtown Riverfront through Intermodal Transporationproject in Riverhead – The project will fund the construction of an approximate 500-space parking garage and construct complete streets with pedestrian-bike-vehicular connectivity. Separately, the city will reclaim the downtown riverfront as public green space and create transit-oriented development with local and private funding. This project should generate economic activity along the riverfront and in the region, and provide high paying jobs to area residents. The project includes public-private partnerships, as well as the support from local businesses and civic leaders.
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
