DALLAS -- States can begin drawing on $1.14 billion of new federal funds for freight-related projects available in fiscal 2016 from the recently enacted Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
The Federal Highway Administration last week issued guidelines for the National Highway Freight Program’s formula-based grants aimed at improving critical roadway portions of the national freight-handling network. The FAST Act will provide the freight transportation program with $1.1 billion in fiscal 2017 and a total of $6.25 billion through fiscal 2020.
The freight program funding is being distributed on the same basis as the regular highway program allocations from the Highway Trust Fund. That is, if a state receives 4% of the annual federal highway funding distributed by the FHWA, it would also receive 4% of the freight program funding.
Most of the additional highway funding in the five-year, $305 billion FAST Act over previous funding laws comes from the National Highway Freight Program and a $4.5 billion competitive grant program for freight-related projects, said Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
"With both of those accounts now activated, state agencies will soon be using those funds to make important infrastructure improvements that will strengthen the economy and make highways safer,” Wright said.
The federal freight program can provide up to 90% of the funding for projects on interstate highways and 80% for projects on other roads, with the states responsible for the remaining costs.
States can use the freight funding for truck-only highway lanes, truck parking facilities, or highway overpasses that eliminate railroad crossings, the Transportation Department said in its guidelines. Up to 10% of a state’s total funding can be used to improve the flow of cargo into and out of seaports or freight rail facilities.
"We now have an opportunity to fund high-impact projects that address key challenges affecting the movement of people and freight,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Victor Mendez.
The FAST Act requires the FHWA to identify a National Highway Freight Network (NHFN) that categorizes the highway portions of the national freight transportation system.
The FHWA has initially designated 37,436 center-line miles of interstate highways and 4,082 center-line miles of non-interstate roads as the nation’s Primary Highway Freight System. The total includes all but 9,500 miles of the interstate system.
States that account for 2% or more of the primary miles have to spend their freight funding for projects on the designated system while low-mileage states face fewer restrictions. The 34 low-mileage states include Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Virginia. States designated as high-mileage states include California, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
“Eligible projects shall contribute to the efficient movement of freight on the NHFN, and be identified in a freight investment plan,” the FHWA said.
The new emphasis on funding freight-related projects is long overdue, said Leslie Blakey, president of the advocacy group Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors.
“Over the past 15 years, we have advocated for a minimum annual investment of $2 billion in the freight network,” Blakely said. “Investment of this magnitude will increase the efficiency and reliability of our commerce network.”
The new freight-related funding will allow the U.S. to compete more effectively in the world economy, said coalition president Sharon Neely.
“Up until now, freight projects, which are frequently large in scale and cross multiple jurisdictions, have had difficulty securing funds through traditional means,” she said. “The funding provided by the FAST Act will go a long way towards aiding meritorious projects that, once completed, often have an outsized effect on the local, regional, and national economy.”
