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News Releases |
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ADOT reaching out for additional Recovery Act funds
Federal TIGER grant applications total $464 million
September 30, 2009
PHOENIX – Having already secured $350 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to improve the state’s transportation system, the Arizona Department of Transportation is making a run for even more federal funds. ADOT recently applied for $464.5 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery discretionary grants.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is offering the TIGER grants as part of the stimulus program to further enhance transportation, as well as preserve and create jobs, and support economic recovery. Grant applications were submitted on Sept. 15; ADOT and other states will learn which projects were approved in early 2010.
The additional grants would fund projects statewide to improve interstates, highways and even a rail initiative in eastern Arizona. All of these projects have been identified because they all could be “shovel-ready” within a year and could be completed within the three-year window required for all Recovery Act projects.
The following are the projects that ADOT submitted for TIGER grant consideration:
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I-10 from State Route 85 to Verrado Way ($62.5 million) – Currently this seven-mile segment of I-10 is a four-lane divided highway. The project would add another lane in both directions, extending I-10 improvements further west. Projects are currently under way to add an additional lane ending at Verrado Way. If funded, construction could begin by June 2010.
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Loop 303 from Peoria Avenue to Waddell Road ($93.7 million) –This section of Loop 303 currently has one lane in each direction. This project, along with current and future projects, would further ADOT’s goal of developing the Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway. This project has already gained environmental clearance. If funded, construction could start by March 2010.
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I-10 from I-8 to State Route 87 ($55 million) – The long-term goal for I-10 through this corridor is to widen it to 10 lanes. In the meantime, this project would add a third lane in each direction through the nearly 12-mile stretch of highway from I-8 near Casa Grande south to SR 87.
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I-17 at the Cordes Junction interchange ($62 million) – The Cordes Junction interchange connects I-17 and State Route 69 and is a key route for travel to and from the Prescott region. This project would upgrade the interchange to current standards by reducing local traffic mixing with high-speed free-flow traffic.
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I-19 interchange at Sahuarita Road ($35 million) – This project would replace and widen the bridge and roadways to add new lanes, as well as reconstruct the interstate ramps to allow for future capacity demands.
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Copper Country Rail Mobility Initiative ($98 million) – The Arizona Eastern Railway, working with ADOT, Gila County, Graham County and the San Carlos Apache Nation, has developed a proposal to upgrade current track, as well as build a 10-mile spur into the San Juan/Dos Pobres Mines that would allow for 17,000 truckloads of sulfuric acid to be taken off area roads and transported via rail. In addition, a new year-round passenger train service from Globe to Safford would operate four times daily.
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I-10 Tangerine Road interchange ($58.5 million) – The project would completely rebuild and modernize the interchange at Tangerine Road and I-10 in Marana, which is considered by many as the gateway to metropolitan Tucson.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Transportation expects to award a total of $1.5 billion in TIGER projects as part of the current Recovery Act program. Grants were required to be between $20 million and $300 million. Successful grants, awarded on a competitive basis for capital projects, are expected to have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region.
For more information on ADOT’s already approved ARRA projects, including a map of locations, go to www.azdot.gov/recovery.
Visit ADOT’s Travel Information site at az511 or dial 5-1-1 for information across Arizona.
Please buckle up, observe speed limits, and never drink and drive.
For additional information contact:
ADOT Media Line
800.949.8057
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