Communities to get $600 million from DOT from Biden infrastructure law

July 3 (UPI) -- Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that more than $600 million in infrastructure funding is being made available to communities around the country.

It's the third round of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program for capital construction projects and community planning grants, the Transportation Department said .

"Through President Biden's infrastructure law, we're addressing infrastructure choices of the past and making sure that our transportation investments serve to connect, rather than divide, people and communities across the country," Buttigieg said in a statement. "This funding will support projects that bring people closer to jobs, schools, housing, places of worship, and one another."

Communities interested in qualifying for the funding can get assistance through the Transportation Department's Reconnecting Communities Institute.

"The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are key components of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, which is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle out," the Transportation Department said. "These investments are rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, driving more than $490 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments, lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. "

Projects funded earlier this year include the Atlanta BeltLine to Flint River Trail Project in Georgia to construct a multi-use trail connecting schools, job centers, the belt line and rail stations.

A Birmingham, Ala., project got a grant for a 15-block redesign of Birmingham's Black Main Street. Portland, Ore., got money to build a highway cover "that will support new community space and future development while reconnecting Lower Albina to local streets over Interstate 5."

Syracuse, N.Y., used DOT funding to remove parts of I-81 to "transform the surrounding neighborhood into a complete streets network, increase connections to downtown Syracuse, improve traffic flow, increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians, and spur additional investment in the neighborhood."

The Transportation Department said the RCP program sets a goal of 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal infrastructure investments "flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution."

The application deadline for the new Transportation Department community funding is Sept. 30.