FY 2022 Rural Grant Program Recipients Announced!

FY 2022 Rural Grant Program Recipients Announced!

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that $273.9 million has been awarded from the new Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (Rural) to help communities around the United States complete transportation projects that will increase connectivity, improve safety and reliability, support regional economic growth, and improve the quality of life for people living in rural areas.  

 

Due to decades of disinvestment, around 13% of rural roads and 10% of off-system bridges, most of which are in rural areas, are in poor condition. The fatality rate on rural roads is also two times greater than on urban roads. Facing these sobering figures, the Biden Administration made supporting Americans living in rural areas a top priority by providing a total of $44 billion through the infrastructure law to help rural communities repair and improve their roads, bridges, airports, ports, and transit systems. 

 

This year’s selected projects include: 

• West Reserve Drive Improvements Project in Kalispell, Montana. In the city of Kalispell, Montana – a gateway to Glacier National Park – USDOT is investing $25 million in pedestrian and road safety and economic mobility. 
• Mobility for Everyone, Everywhere in North Carolina. In up to 11 rural communities across North Carolina, USDOT is investing $10.4 million in new and expanded on-demand transit services that will be tailored to each community’s unique transportation needs.  
• BIA Route 7 Regional Improvement Project in Todd County, South Dakota. In Todd County, South Dakota -- which is completely within the borders of the Rosebud Indian Reservation – USDOT is investing $26.2 million in the reconstruction of approximately 24 miles of roadway stretching from US Route 18 to US Route 83.  
• Advancing Connectivity and Equity in the Native Village of Wales, Alaska: This $10,000,000 project will construct approximately 3.6 miles of access road from the Native Village of Wales, the westernmost city in Alaska on the North American mainland, where 99.6% of residents are Alaska Natives, to Tin City Road.
• Coalfields Expressway Project in Wyoming County, West Virginia: This $25,000,000 project will construct an approximately 15-mile segment of the Coalfields Expressway, which will be a limited access multi-lane expressway connecting I-64/I-77 at Beckley, West Virginia and US 23 in Slate, Virginia.

More information and a full list of this year’s Rural grant recipients can be found HERE. 

 

The Rural program will invest a total of approximately $2 billion through 2026 for projects that improve highways, bridges, and tunnels, address highway safety, increase access to agricultural, commercial, energy, or freight facilities that support the economy, and bring flexible transit services to rural and Tribal areas. The Department received applications requesting approximately $10 billion in funding, far exceeding the nearly $300 million in 2022 funding available. 

 

For more information about the Rural program and the combined Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant funding opportunity, click HERE.

 

 

The Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative aims to address disparities in rural transportation infrastructure by disseminating resources on its website and providing technical assistance. If you want to learn more about ROUTES, or how it can help your community, you can reach the ROUTES team at rural@dot.gov.