The Biden administration has announced almost $830 million in grants to support 80 projects across the country to improve aging roadways. The goal of the investments is to make transportation infrastructure more extreme weather-resilient in the face of heat waves, flooding, sea-level rise and other impacts related to climate change.

The first-of-their-kind awards are being funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program, coupled with current PROTECT Formula funding already going to states for similar projects, a press release from the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) said.

“We have seen far too many examples of transportation infrastructure being shut down or damaged by extreme weather, which is more extreme and more frequent in this time of climate change,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said before the announcement, as The Associated Press reported. “America’s infrastructure was not built for the climate that we have today, and the consequences of this are very real and being felt by people in every part of the country.”

Through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, more than $50 billion has been dedicated to climate adaptation and resilience through the establishment of a National Climate Resilience Framework to advance climate resilience strategies for local communities.

The U.S. transportation system was designed and built mostly before today’s more frequent and severe extreme weather events, which are causing increasing damage to transportation infrastructure, the press release said.

The PROTECT program will be put toward projects to strengthen roads, highways, bridges, public transportation, ports, pedestrian facilities and intercity passenger rail. Increasing their resilience will reduce costs in the short- and long-term by minimizing future reconstruction and maintenance needs.

“From wildfires shutting down freight rail lines in California to mudslides closing down a highway in Colorado, from a drought causing the halt of barge traffic on the Mississippi River to subways being flooded in New York, extreme weather, made worse by climate change, is damaging America’s transportation infrastructure, cutting people off from getting to where they need to go, and threatening to raise the cost of goods by disrupting supply chains,” Buttigieg said in the press release.

Four types of grants are being awarded by FHWA in 37 different states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

“Every community in America knows the impacts of climate change and extreme weather, including increasingly frequent heavy rain and flooding events across the country and sea-level rise that is inundating infrastructure in coastal states,” said Shailen Bhatt, FHWA administrator, in the press release. “This investment from the Biden-Harris Administration will ensure our infrastructure is built to withstand more frequent and unpredictable extreme weather, which is vitally important for people and businesses that rely on roads and bridges being open to keep our economy moving.”

Disadvantaged communities are often most at risk from hazards, and the grant program will help further environmental justice by addressing these communities’ needs.

“The program encouraged applicants from all levels of government — from local governments and Tribes to state DOTs — to apply for PROTECT discretionary-grant funding,” the press release said. “Consistent with the objectives of the National Climate Resilience Framework, these awards will help these communities across the country become not only more resilient, but also more safe, healthy, equitable, and economically strong.”

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