Highway Infrastructure
FHWA to Provide $1.4B for Emergency Road Repairs
The amounts awarded to states for disasters dating back to 2001.
Image courtesy of FHWA.
The Federal Highway Administration has announced it will award about $1.4 billion to reimburse states around the country for repairs to highways and bridges, debris removal and other cleanup and rebuilding activities in the wake of floods and other disasters.
In a Dec. 21 announcement, FHWA said it will make reimbursements to 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agency said this is its largest distribution of Emergency Relief program funding since 2011.
Of the $1.4 billion total, California received by far the largest portion among the states, $625 million.
[View state-by-state totals here.]
Puerto Rico ranked second, with $73 million, for repairs after four disasters, including 2017’s Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Kentucky is third with $72.5 million.
In all, the funds will go for repairs and cleanups stemming from about 200 emergencies,
They include events as recent as storms in August 2021 in Alabama, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.
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Some other allocations are for what FHWA calls “additional funding needs” for earlier disasters. The earliest is the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade center in New York City.
Most of the allotments are for storms and other natural disasters, but the list also includes two 2021 bridge damage incidents in Washington state caused by "third-party" collisions.
The funds fall into two main categories: $1.3 billion for repairs to Interstates, arterials and other federal-aid highways and bridges; and $126.5 million for repairs to federally owned roads, such as those in national parks.
