U.S. DOT awards Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Demonstration Program funding

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) recently announced that five recipients have been selected to receive a total of $5 million under the new Regional Infrastructure Accelerators (RIA) program.

The department says the RIA program will help accelerate project delivery through a variety of ways, including project planning, studies and analysis, and preliminary engineering and design work, according to a press release.

The selected RIAs are:

• Fresno Council of Governments, Fresno, California: $1 million—Two Rail Intermodal Complexes; Roadway Access and Interchange Improvements; Truck Mobility Complex
• Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Chicago, Illinois: $1 million—Bridge Rehabilitations; ADA Transitions; Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
• Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, Cleveland, Ohio: $295,000—Intermodal Facility; Airport Access Improvement; Improve Road to Healthcare Facility; Pedestrian Connection
• San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego, California: $1.47 million—Regional Rail Infrastructure
• Pacific Northwest Economic Region, Seattle, Washington $1.235 million—Rail and Freight Improvements; Seaport Emission Reduction; Highway/Rail Grade Separation

“This program will help regional transportation agencies deliver projects more effectively, benefitting communities around the country,” Morteza Farajian, Executive Director of the U.S. DOT's Build America Bureau, said in a statement.

These awards follow a December 2020 solicitation for projects for the Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Demonstration Program. The program, which was created in the FAST Act and funded through the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, is designed to inform future work by measuring how different regional accelerator models can expedite development and delivery of transportation projects. 

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SOURCE: U.S. DOT