BUILD grant funding for counties

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced $1.5 billion in discretionary grant funding to 91 projects in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Kentucky will receive over $59 million in grant funding toward three transportation infrastructure projects in Calloway, Daviess and Pulaski counties. The grants are made through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants program and support road, rail, transit, and port infrastructure projects across the country.

“BUILD transportation grants are major investments in road, rail, transit, and port projects that serve as a down payment on this administration’s commitment to America’s infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

Demand for BUILD grants far exceeded available funds, and the locally-driven nature of the applications was clear in their volume and geographic diversity.  851 eligible applications from all 50 states, as well as U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia were sent in response to the BUILD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), nearly double the applications received in 2017.

CALLOWAY COUNTY

US 641 Widening, $23,000,000 - The project will widen an approximately 5.7-mile section of US 641 South from a two-lane divided highway to a four-lane divided highway between the Kentucky/Tennessee state line at Hazel north to the Middle Fork of the Clarks River.

DAVIESS COUNTY

KY 331/Industrial Drive and Rinaldo Road Widening and Reconstruction Project, $11,520,000 - The project will widen and improve approximately 2.6 miles of KY 331/Industrial Drive and Rinaldo Road from 2nd Street into the Owensboro Riverport Intermodal Terminal, and will reconstruct the CSX at-grade railroad crossing.

PULASKI COUNTY

Pulaski County Interchange Improvement to KY 461, Kentucky, $25,000,000 - This project will replace the KY 80/KY 461 intersection with a grade-separated half-cloverleaf interchange, and the at-grade intersection of Valley Oak Drive - Coin Road/KY with a grade separated tight diamond interchange.  The project will also widen approximately 3 miles of KY 461 from two lanes to four lanes.

The BUILD Transportation Grants re-balance a ten-year, historical underinvestment in rural communities.  Rural applications more than doubled from the previous year’s TIGER applications. Underinvestment in rural infrastructure has led to a decline in the routes that connect communities in rural America.  In this round, in which 59 percent of the applications were for rural projects, 62 projects were awarded to rural grant applications.