The U.S Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that the Biden-Harris Administration has selected five recipients to receive a total of $5 million under the new Regional Infrastructure Accelerators (RIA) program. 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. 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
These awards follow from a December 2020 solicitation for projects for the Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Demonstration Program. The program, which was created in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (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.
-via Press Release