The U. S.
Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced $1.73 billion in BUILD grants for transportation projects across the country.
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Funding will be redirected away from what the administration calls “DEI bike lanes” toward roads, bridges, and ports.
The move reverses priorities established under the Biden administration’s RAISE program, which included equity goals.
Where the Money Goes
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said approximately 77 percent of the funding, about $1.3 billion, will support road and bridge projects along critical transportation corridors.
Another seven percent will be directed toward maritime infrastructure, compared with roughly two percent under the previous administration.
No funding from this round of BUILD grants will be used for bicycle lane projects.
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The department said roughly 20 percent of comparable funding under the Biden administration supported pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.
“America is fortunate to have a builder in the White House who knows America is only as great as our infrastructure,” Duffy said in a statement.
“That’s why this Department is investing in repairing critical roads and bridges that connect Americans to job opportunities, port infrastructure that bolsters our national security, and aviation and transit projects that move American families.”
The BUILD program has existed since 2009 and provides competitive grants to state and local governments for a wide variety of transportation projects.
While some awards have funded bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, grants have also supported highway improvements, bridges, transit facilities, ports, rail projects, and freight corridors.
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The Department of Transportation has not indicated whether future BUILD funding rounds will continue excluding bicycle infrastructure.
