U.S. DOT Awards $1.2 Billion in Mega Grants

What happened: Nine states will get discretionary grants for large national and regional transportation projects through the IIJA’s National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) Grant program, which is dispensing $5 billion over five years.

President Joe Biden Jan. 31 unveiled the largest grant of $292 million for rail tunnel construction on the Gateway Program that will improve the most congested 10-mile section of the Northeast Corridor. Last month Biden and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced another Mega Grant to upgrade the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati.

Why it matters: Mega grants prioritize multimodal projects deemed too large or complex for conventional funding. Other awarded projects include:

• $150 million to construct a new three-lane bridge over the Calcasieu River in Louisiana.
• $85 million to upgrade Oklahoma’s I-44 and US-75 interchange and improve pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.
• $60 million to widen a stretch of Mississippi’s I-10 from four to six lanes.

Here’s the full list.