DOT Secretary Slater Announces $124 Million in Fiscal 1999 Grants For Borders and Corridors Program |
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Topics: Rodney E. Slater
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Federal Highway Administration
May 27, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 27, 1999
Contact: Jim Pinkelman
Tel.: 202-366-0660
FHWA 36-99
U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced that nearly $124 million in grants would be provided to 32 states for 55 projects under the National Corridor Planning and Development and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure programs.
"Helping to continue the historic success of the North American Free Trade Agreement, these grants will provide safer and more efficient movement of people and goods between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.," said Slater. "In addition to supporting safety, President Clinton's highest transportation priority, this program will assist our effort to create jobs and stimulate economic growth."
Slater called the border and corridor grants critical investments for the continuing success of NAFTA, noting that annual trade with Mexico had more than doubled pre-NAFTA levels to $173.3 billion in 1998 and exceeded $300 billion with Canada.
The National Corridor Planning and Development Program and the Coordinated Border
Infrastructure Program are provided for by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the landmark surface transportation law that President Clinton signed on June 9, 1998.
Both the corridor and the border programs provide the U.S. Department of Transportation authority to allocate dollars to states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPO). The programs provide up to $140 million to states in fiscal 1999 and up to $140 million each year over the remaining four fiscal years (2000-2003) of TEA-21, for a total of $700 million.
After obligation limitation reductions, $123.6 million was available under the programs in fiscal 1999. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) received more than 150 funding requests for projects totaling more than $2 billion. All applications were found to be at least partly eligible for funding. The federal share for projects funded through these programs is 80 percent.
Under the corridor program, the department established criteria based on TEA-21 for states and MPOs to apply for discretionary funds. Projects could be for any of the 21 high-priority corridors identified in the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991, the eight added in the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, the 14 added in TEA-21, and other significant corridors based on factors specified in the TEA-21 statute.
The border program aims to improve border infrastructure and transportation telecommunications to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of people and goods at or across the United States-Canada and the United States-Mexico borders. Criteria under which the department could fund applications included reduction in travel time through a major international facility, potential for improvements in border crossing vehicle safety and cargo security, and the applicability of innovative techniques and technology to other border crossing facilities.
The grants apply to highway, rail and intermodal projects and demonstrate that states and localities are using multimodal solutions to transportation challenges, ensuring that the United States’ transportation system can meet the trade and transportation demands of the 21st century safely and efficiently.
The fiscal 1999 National Corridor Planning and Development Program and Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program grant recipients, by state, project and total allocation, are listed below.
| State | Project | Allocation |
| Alaska | Design/Reconstruction of portions of the Dalton Highway | $600,000 |
| Arizona (lead state*) |
Planning for parts of the CANAMEX Corridor. | $1,000,000 |
| Arizona (lead state) |
Design of the Hoover Dam Bypass in CANAMEX Corridor. | $2,000,000 |
| Arizona | Site development work for commercial vehicle inspection and weighing in the vicinity of Nogales. | $2,500,000 |
| Arkansas (lead state) |
Environmental Studies for future I-69. | $10,000,000 |
| Arkansas (lead state) |
Acquisition of right-of-way for Highway 71 from Texarkana to the Louisiana state line. | $2,000,000 |
| Arkansas (lead state) |
Environmental review, design, right-of-way acquisition and bridge replacement for parts of U.S. 412 in northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. | $1,000,000 |
| California | Environmental review, detailed design and right-of-way acquisition for State Route 905. | $7,400,000 |
| California | Coordinated study of feasibility of new border crossing, planning for port of entry improvements and planning for improving border transportation efficiencies in the vicinity of Mexicali and to improve border transportation systems with Baja California. | $ 340,000 |
| Georgia | Comprehensive corridor study for State Route 22, U.S. 80, State Route 96 and I-16 to Savannah. | $1,500,000 |
| Idaho | Environmental, concept, location, comprehensive and corridor planning and right-of-way acquisition for U.S. 95 from State Route 1 to the Canadian border. | $1,200,000 |
| Illinois | Reconstruction of westbound mainline of I-55 from Dan Ryan Expressway to Kedzie Avenue. | $3,000,000 |
| Indiana | Construction of highway and bridges for Hoosier Industrial Corridor between State Route 13 and State Route 9. | $2,000,000 |
| Indiana | Planning, routing and location studies for High Priority Corridor 18 (a.k.a., future I-69) in Southwest Indiana and nearby Kentucky. | $400,000 |
| Iowa | Reconstruction/widening of I-35 from west of State Route 415 to east of U.S. 69. | $3,000,000 |
| Kansas | Feasibility, location and design studies for a corridor from Missouri to Oklahoma generally along U.S. 54. | $560,000 |
| Kentucky | Preliminary engineering and environmental studies for a facility from Pike County to future I-73 in West Virginia, with the proviso that one alternative for study be less costly than alternatives previously studied (e.g., a phased improvement where the initial phase includes some at grade intersections and a later phase includes improving those intersections to interchanges). | $4,500,000 |
| Louisiana | Environmental, preliminary engineering, design and construction work to upgrade U.S. 90 to a controlled access facility to be identified as I-49 from Lafayette to the West Bank Expressway. | $3,000,000 |
| Louisiana | Design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation and construction work for development of I-49 from Shreveport to the Arkansas State line. | $1,000,000 |
| Maine (lead state) |
Project development work for a new border crossing in Calais through the NEPA process and other planning work supporting the development of the U.S. 2 corridor in New England. | $1,500,000 |
| Maryland (lead state) |
Study of feasibility and other issues involving the development of projects to provide substantial improvements to a north to south corridor in Western Maryland and nearby parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. | $500,000 |
| Michigan | Design of improved Ambassador Bridge gateway and reconstruction of nearby portion of I-75/I-96. | $10,600,000 |
| Michigan | Deployment of technology improvements on Blue Water Bridge, design of improvements to a nearby grade crossing and construction of a nearby truck cargo facility. | $1,200,000 |
| Michigan | Study of cross border transportation improvements in Livingston, St. Clair, Monroe, Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw and Macomb counties. | $100,000 |
| Minnesota | Mobile vehicle inspections using portable scales. | $144,000 |
| Minnesota | Study and environmental review of improvements to U.S. 53 from Virginia to Cook and International Falls to the vicinity of Kabetogama. | $500,000 |
| Missouri (lead state) |
Deployment planning for ITS improvements for I-35/I-29 corridor from Mexico to Canada. | $800,000 |
| Montana | Feasibility of bypass in city of Billings, Yellowstone County. | $150,000 |
| New Jersey | Development of multimodal/intermodal corridor plan for rail and highway improvements in vicinity of Port Elizabeth, N.J., approximately parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike. | $1,000,000 |
| New Mexico | Widen the Domenici Highway (State Route 136) from 2 to 4 lanes in vicinity of the Mexico border. | $4,000,000 |
| New York (lead state) |
Technology and physical improvements to institute Intelligent Transportation Systems for expediting rail cargo at border crossings in Buffalo, N.Y.; Detroit; Port Huron, Mich.; and Ranier, Minn. | $1,000,000 |
| New York | Design, right-of-way acquisition, construction and reconstruction from 2 to 4 lanes of U.S. 219 from State Route 39 in the vicinity of Springville to State Route 17/I-86 in the vicinity of Salamanca. | $500,000 |
| New York | Development of a commercial vehicle processing center in the vicinity of the Buffalo/Fort Erie Bridge. | $960,000 |
| New York | ITS Operational test including design, construction and operation at the Buffalo/Fort Erie Bridge. | $1,800,000 |
| New York | Widen approaches on northbound I-81, including preliminary engineering, design and construction in the vicinity of the Thousand Islands border crossing. | $200,000 |
| New York | Design of Inspection facilities in the vicinity of the Port of Rochester border crossing. | $400,000 |
| North Dakota | Develop model for planning border crossing improvements based on Pembina- Emerson and Portal-North Portal ports of entry. | $200,000 |
| Oklahoma | Reconstruction and addition of two lanes to I-35 from the South Canada Bridge to U.S. 77. | $3,000,000 |
| Oregon (lead state) |
Multimodal trade corridor
study of the I-5 corridor between Portland and Vancouver
and vicinity from I-84 in Oregon to I-205 in Washington. The I-5 corridor serves the ports of Portland and Vancouver, the intermodal yards of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, and the Portland International Airport. |
$2,000,000 |
| Pennsylvania | Construction of new facilities and reconstruction of existing facilities to freeway standards in various portions of Washington and Allegheny counties as part of the Mon-Fayette expressway. | $4,000,000 |
| South Dakota | Construction of interchange, frontage roads and railroad underpass in Rapid City from State Route 79 south of the city to I-90 at the Elk Vale Road Interchange. | $3,000,000 |
| Tennessee | Reconstruction and addition
of 2 lanes in the vicinity of the I-40/I-240 midtown interchange in Memphis. |
$3,000,000 |
| Texas | Construction of freeway overpasses and connectors in Laredo on FM 3464 from I-35 to the new border crossing. | $6,200,000 |
| Texas | Border station improvements at the International Bridge of the Americas in El Paso County. | $2,400,000 |
| Texas | Construction of bridge and upgrading to four lanes in Hidalgo County on U.S. 281 south of Pharr. | $1,800,000 |
| Texas | Construction and upgrading to eight lanes of I-35 in Comal County from Walnut Avenue to FM 725. | $1,700,000 |
| Texas | Construction of safety inspection facility, bus processing center, electronic vehicle traffic management system and related improvements at three border crossing locations in Hidalgo port-of-entry system. | $1,900,000 |
| Washington | Construction of a number of highway-rail grade separations and port access projects on the Freight Action Strategy (FAST) Corridor from Everett to Tacoma. | $10,000,000 |
| Washington | Binational Coordination for border crossings in Whatcom County. | $811,000 |
| Washington | Freight and traveler origin and destination study and commodity flow study in Whatcom County. | $ 238,000 |
| Washington | Outreach project to market preclearance program in Whatcom County. | $200,000 |
| West Virginia | Construction to freeway standards of the Mon-Fayette expressway from I-68 east of Morgantown to the Pennsylvania state line. | $3,000,000 |
| West Virginia | Reconstruction and widening of the Tolsia Highway from two to four lanes with partial access control in Wayne and Mingo Counties. | $3,500,000 |
| Wisconsin | Construction to improve a two-lane facility to a four-lane divided highway along State Route 29 in Brown, Marathon, Shawano and Dunn Counties. | $3,000,000 |
| Wyoming (lead state) |
Preliminary engineering, environmental studies and coordination for a joint port of entry along U.S. 87 between Buffalo, Wyo., and Billings, Mont. | $1,300,000 |