U S DOT Awards $487 Million in TIGER Grants – Illinois Scores $17.6 Million

A record total of 64% of the current round of grants goes to projects in rural areas. The federal money will go 77% to highways, 9% to maritime projects, 7% to freight rail construction, 4% to public transit and 3% to passenger rail projects. There are 41 awards out of 450 applications from state and local government units.

Illinois will share in a $10 million federal contribution toward the $20 million cost of rebuilding railway approaches to the Wabash River rail bridge connecting southern Illinois and southern Indiana. The other grant to Illinois will provide $7.6 million towards the $13.3 million cost of widening five miles of Interstate 57 in southern Illinois.