The U.S. Department of Transportation yesterday announced the award of more than $4.9 billion in funding to 37 projects through two major grant programs: the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA).

Grants were awarded to 11 projects through the 2024 Mega program and 28 projects through fiscal-year 2023 and 2024 INFRA program, USDOT officials said in a press release. Two of those projects received grants from both programs.

The Mega program, which was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, provides $5 billion in funding through 2026 and is focused on projects that are large, complex and difficult to fund under traditional grant programs.

Rail-related projects receiving Mega grants include:
• $600 million for the Washington State DOT and Oregon DOT project to replace the Interstate 5 bridge, which will include transit improvements such as additional light rail;
• $283.4 million to the Port of Long Beach’s Pier B On-Dock Rail support facility program in California; and
• $130 million to the St. Lucie River Railroad Bridge replacement project in Florida.

The INFRA program, for which funding was increased more than 50% by the IIJA, also funds large scale, transformational infrastructure projects designed to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas, the release said.

Some of the rail-related projects receiving INFRA grants include:
• $53.9 million for the San Dieguito Bridge replacement in San Diego. The project will replace the 107-year-old single-track wooden trestle San Dieguito River Railway Bridge;
• $29.2 million to the Interstate 76 reconstruction and improvements project in Morgan County, Colorado. The project includes the replacement of four bridges over I-76, including two bridges over BNSF Railway Co. rail lines;
• $28 million to the Elko Nevada Rail Corridor enhancement project in Nevada, which calls for design and construction improvements on the Union Pacific Railroad Overland route at UP’s Elko Yard;
• $25 million to the Randall Road grade separation and intersection safety-improvement program in Kane County, Illinois. The project calls for construction of a grade separation of a CN line and reconstructing an existing intersection adjacent to the grade separation; and
• $17 million to the Alaska Railroad Corp.’s bridge replacement in Fairbanks, Alaska. The project will replace an aging railroad bridge that crosses the Chena River at Fort Wainwright. The bridge is part of ARRC’s Eielson Branch, which links ARRC’s mainline at Fairbanks with Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base. 


One rail-related project that received funding from both the Mega and INFRA program is the Port of New Orleans’ project to construct a new International Container Terminal in Louisiana. That project received $300 million; the new terminal will include an intermodal rail yard.