Federal program to invest nearly $274M into rural roadway improvements

More than 70% of the nation’s roughly 4 million miles of roadway stretch through rural areas. And of those miles, many are in a state of disrepair. A new federal initiative aims to change that.

“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,” reads a statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation announcing a nearly $274 million investment Wednesday to improve rural roadways. While only 19 percent of the U.S. population live in rural areas, 45 percent of all vehicle fatalities occur in them.

To that end, the money will be funneled into a dozen projects to improve safety and access.  

Of the $274 million, $25 million will be invested in West Reserve Drive in Kalispell, Mont. for pedestrian and roadway safety improvements that include a center turn lane, new landscape boulevards, redesigned intersections and a shared use pathway.

In North Carolina, 11 rural communities will receive $10.4 million to expand on-demand transit services. And in Todd County, S.D., which is entirely encapsulated by the Rosebud Indian Reservation, $26.2 million be invested to reconstruct approximately 24 miles of road stretching from U.S. Route 18 to U.S. Route 83. The project will provide improved access for Tribal residents to the town of Rosebud and the essential services located there, including healthcare centers, employment opportunities, and educational facilities, the statement says.

“Infrastructure investments haven’t always reached rural America, leaving far too many roads, bridges and other parts of the transportation system across our country in disrepair,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the statement. “Today’s announcement is one of many ways this administration is delivering the investments that rural communities have gone without for far too long, modernizing transportation, creating economic opportunity and making life better for millions of people.”

The funding will be made available through the Biden Administration’s new Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which will inject $2 billion into American infrastructure through 2026. Eligible projects include highway and bridge improvements, and tunnels. The funding is intended to improve highway safety and “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,” the report says.

Applications that received the award were evaluated based on criteria like project readiness, cost-effectiveness, and whether or not they supported critical goals including enhancing safety, mobility and reliability, improving resiliency and restoring infrastructure to a state of good repair. Applicants for the program also benefited from a streamlined process that allowed them to submit one application for three different grant programs: the rural infrastructure program, the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, and the new National Infrastructure Project Assistance program.

For more information about the grant opportunity, visit the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website.