AASHTO Journal - USDOT Issues $47M for P3 Project Support Initiative

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Build America Bureau recently issued $47 million in grants to support infrastructure projects being built via public-private partnerships or P3s in 27 states.

[Above photo by AASHTO]

The agency said that funding, issued via the Bureau’s Innovative Finance and Asset Concession or IFAC program, provides states with the resources to engage with businesses that can provide innovative financing solutions on local projects.

“These grants are about reducing taxpayer waste, accelerating construction timelines, and helping people get where they want to go safer,” said Sean Duffy, USDOT secretary in a statement.

“Funding from the IFAC program will help recipients look beyond traditional project funding and delivery methods to generate value and complete critical infrastructure upgrades faster and at lower cost to taxpayers,” said Morteza Farajian, the Bureau’s executive director.

“This novel program, combined with other capacity building grants such as Regional Infrastructure Accelerators, is not only helping our state and local partners identify opportunities, but also enabling them to connect with private developers and investors and their innovative ideas and capital,” he noted. “As a result, communities will receive transportation benefits from projects that would otherwise stall.”

Altogether, the Bureau issued 45 grants from the $47 million tranche of funding to spur P3 infrastructure projects development including ones overseen by state departments of transportation:

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation received $1.25 million to explore P3 opportunities for creating high-occupancy toll lanes on I-279/579 in Allegheny County to ease congestion and improve safety.
The West Virginia Department of Highways – a division of the West Virginia Department of Transportation – received $1 million to evaluate improvement needs for state-owned bridges and explore P3 project delivery opportunities.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation received $1 million to conduct an “asset scan” to systematically identify and evaluate existing assets across Arkansas for revenue generation and value creation opportunities.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation received $1.5 million to analyze the conversion of High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on Honolulu’s most congested highway corridors.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development received $1 million to conduct an asset scan and evaluation of its infrastructure project pipeline and existing assets.
The Maryland Department of Transportation received $1 million to evaluate potential transit-oriented development and parking optimization opportunities at six commuter rail stations, while the Maryland Transit Administration – a division of Maryland DOT – received $1 million to evaluate state, city, and county owned properties and conduct an innovative financing analysis to identify new funding approaches.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation received two separate $1 million grants. The first conducts an asset scan of nine selected Omaha-metro area projects and the I-80 corridor between downtown Omaha and Lincoln. The second conducts a comprehensive asset evaluation, enabling the agency to leverage a P3 for development of “The Stitch,” a 20-acre parcel beneath and adjacent to the I-480/Dodge Street interchange in downtown Omaha.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation received $1.25 million to develop a program of alternative delivery methods and innovative financing to expedite completion of state infrastructure projects.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation received $1 million to conduct a statewide asset scan focused on major corridors including I-77, I-85, I-385, US 278, and the planned I-73.