COLUMBIA, S.C. — Almost $1 billion has been released to the state of South Carolina by the US Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) so the state might modernize critical infrastructure.
A total of $979.01 million will aid in funding 12 formula programs in the state, covering construction, improvements and modernization of roads, bridges, carbon emission reduction and safety issues. The money is part of a nationwide $15.4 billion available through President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
While South Carolina leadership will determine the projects that will receive funding, the apportionments have been allocated as follows for Fiscal Year 2023:
- National Highway Performance Program: $509,502,362
- Surface Transportation Block Grant: $247,866,014
- Highway Safety Improvement Program: $53,021,135
- Railway-Highway Crossings Program: $4,752,794
- Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality Program: $14,558,680
- Metropolitan Planning: $4,238,405
- National Highway Freight Program: $23,687,281
- Carbon Reduction Program: $22,101,386
- PROTECT Formula Program: $25,130,860 -- PROTECT stands for Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation. The program is meant to ensure a state's transportation infrastructure is more resilient to future weather events and other natural disasters.
- National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program: $14,909,387
- Bridge Formula Program: $59,244,248 -- funding here is to improve the condition of about 475 bridges in South Carolina that have been found to be in poor condition and to preserve and improve approximately 4,855 bridges in fair condition that are at risk of deteriorating into poor condition. In addition, South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) was awarded $720,000 to determine how to replace 12 rural bridges over the Great Pee Dee floodplain in Marion and Dillon counties as part of the Bridge Investment Program.
“America’s roads and bridges are the vital arteries of our transportation system, connecting people and goods across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Because of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, today we are sending historic levels of funding to every state to help modernize the roads and bridges Americans rely on every day.”
Buttigieg was in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, along with Congressman James Clyburn touring areas that will be impacted by the federal investment of funds.
