WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced recipients of $321.4 million in Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects (NSFLTP) grants. These are the first grants awarded under the program and will help build and repair roads and bridges that serve Tribal or Federal lands.
“This investment will fund long overdue infrastructure projects to improve safety on roads for underserved Tribal communities and Federal lands,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) was published last October. Officials reviewed the 39 applications received, with estimated construction costs approaching $2 billion, and selected six projects valued at $321.4 million.
In 2015, the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act established the NSFLTP Program to provide federal funding for the construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of transportation projects providing access to or located on Federal or Tribal lands.
“The funding being awarded through this program prioritizes needed improvements to highways and bridges serving areas on federal and tribal lands,” said Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. Nason.
Under the NSFLTP, the Federal share of a project can be up to 90 percent and can be used to improve the condition of a critical transportation facility. Large-scale projects with estimated construction costs of $50 million or more are given priority consideration for selection, but the program accepts projects with estimated construction costs of at least $25 million.