WASHINGTON – The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced a $20 million grant from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to modernize roads and improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. The North Carolina Department of Transportation, the grant recipient, will be provided with the funding for the Greater Rural Access and Highways to Accelerate Mobility project in Graham County, North Carolina, being implemented on behalf of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the project sponsor, to construct one of the last sections of the Appalachian Development System, a roughly 12-mile portion of Corridor K. The corridor connects local communities and visitors to the Nantahala National Forest, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

As part of the project, NCDOT will modernize the 12-mile segment, which currently is limited in capacity with many roadways having steep grades, sharp curves, and narrow shoulder widths, impairing mobility and constraining travel for private vehicles, freight, and emergency services. NCDOT will also expand active transportation access by constructing new sidewalks in Robbinsville and a new land bridge to allow pedestrians and wildlife to cross North Carolina Highway 143.  The project is located within, and provides access to, National Tribal Transportation Facilities owned by the EBCI.

The North Carolina project is one of five nationwide receiving a total of $88.2 million in Fiscal Year 2023 funding under FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects Program. FHWA also announced $20.5 million in Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF) grants for 80 projects today. The full list of TTPSF grant recipients can be found at Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund.

The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides up to $355 million per year in Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. The law also modifies the program by requiring that half of all funding go to projects on Tribal communities and increases the Federal share of projects on Tribal transportation facilities to 100 percent.  

In the coming weeks, FHWA expects to make additional funding available under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program through a Notice of Funding Opportunity. To obtain updates on this and other future funding opportunities, please sign up for the Office of Tribal Transportation mailing list.

To further assist the 574 Federally Recognized Tribes and their transportation priorities, FHWA has developed a Transportation Funding Opportunities for Tribal Nations guide which provides information on new highway programs created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as existing highway and bridge transportation funding programs.

Source: US Department of Transportation