The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced up to $906 million in available funds through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program. INFRA grants provide federal funding for transportation infrastructure projects aimed at addressing critical issues facing America’s highways and bridges. The deadline to apply is February 25, 2020, and instructions for submitting applications can be found here.
The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 estapblished the INFRA program, which awarded $902.5 million to 20 projects in Fiscal Year 2019. In this round of INFRA funding, DOT intends to award both large and small projects. Large and small projects must meet a threshold of at least $25 million and $5 million, respectively, and no less than 10 percent of available funds will be made available for small projects. Additionally, DOT will direct at least 25 percent of INFRA grant funding to rural projects.
According to DOT, INFRA grants may be used to fund a variety of infrastructure projects, though shovel-ready projects that have a significant local match are typically favored. Eligible projects include: reconstruction, rehabilitation and acquisition of property (including land related to the project and improvements to the land), environmental mitigation, construction contingencies, equipment acquisition and operational improvements directly related to system performance.
