U.S. Dot Opens $607M Round of Reconnecting Communities Grants
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has begun to take applications from states, localities and other entities for up to $607 million in grants for projects aimed at relinking neighborhoods cut off by past highways and other infrastructure from jobs, schools, health care and other resources.
According to ENR, funding for the new round of grants, whose launch DOT announced July 3, comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Reconnecting Communities pilot program. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement that the goal of the grants is “addressing infrastructure choices of the past and making sure that our transportation investments serve to connect, rather than divide, people and communities across the country.”
This year’s round of reconnecting communities grants is much smaller than the previous one, which distributed $3.3 billion. The difference was due to a one-time injection of funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. DOT noted that even with last year’s additional funds, the program was “oversubscribed and highly competitive.”
