Nine infrastructure mega projects will receive $1.2 billion from the Department of Transportation as part of the new National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) Discretionary Grant Program (MPDG).
The Mega grant program is a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). It funds projects too large or complex for traditional funding programs, which include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects.
The competition was fierce with $30 billion in funding applications, far beyond this cycle’s $1 billion in funding.
Mega Project Awardees
- $292 million for construction of the third and final section of the concrete casing intended to preserve future right-of-way for the new Hudson River Tunnel and allow for the continued development of Hudson Yards in New York City.
- $250 million for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project to cover construction of a new bridge, reconfigure the existing bridge and improve an 8-mile interstate corridor in Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky.
- $150 million to replace the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.
- $117 million to replace approximately 11 bridges, 4 miles of track structure and more than 1.75 miles of retaining walls along Metra’s UP-N line in Chicago, Illinois.
- $110 million to replace North Carolina’s Alligator River Bridge in Dare and Tyrrell counties.
- $85 million to upgrade the I-44 and US-75 interchange in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- $78 million to make improvements along approximately 12.3 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia.
- $60 million to widen the I-10 from four to six lanes in Diamondhead, Mississippi.
- $30 million to cover auxiliary lane and bus on-shoulder access as well as new bicycle and pedestrian overcrossings within the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line in Santa Cruz County, California.
Here’s DOT’s complete list of project awardee details.