Feds Launch $1B Initiative to Rework Infrastructure That Cut Apart Cities
Source: Route Fifty by By Daniel C. Vock
The Biden administration says places that prioritize community outreach as they design project proposals will have an advantage over others.
Localities applying for federal money to reconnect neighborhoods carved apart by highways, rail lines or other infrastructure will get an edge if they consult with long-time residents, businesses and community groups, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
The details come as the administration formally opened the grant process for the Reconnecting Communities pilot program, a part of the federal infrastructure law Congress passed last year. Congress set aside $1 billion over the next five years for the effort. That’s a far cry from the $20 billion the president originally wanted for the program, but it remains a symbol of Biden’s stated vision of building infrastructure that benefits underserved communities.
“This is the first-ever dedicated federal initiative to unify neighborhoods and communities that are still impacted by infrastructure decisions of the past,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on a call with reporters Wednesday.
“Everywhere I go, people talk about the effect of the highway, the railway – whatever piece of infrastructure it is in their area – that has walled one part of town off from another,” he said. “Unlike a lot of other policy mistakes or problems in the past, this is something that can’t be as easily reversed.”