Eight interstate corridors vie for infrastructure grants

Eight interstate corridors vie for infrastructure grants The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday announced its short list of projects for its Corridors of the Future program, which will designate three to five high-growth, interstate trade and travel corridors where targeted infrastructure grants have the greatest potential to reduce traffic congestion.
   The goal is to coordinate planning and issue targeted grants for specific, high-volume corridors that cross state lines. Under the current approach, states receive federal highway grants with few strings attached on how to use that money or work in a multijurisdictional way for regional improvements.
   The department selected 14 semifinalists from 38 applications it received from states and metropolitan planning organizations. The projects are on eight major corridors:
   * Interstate 95 between Florida and Maine.
   * I-15 in Southern California and Nevada.
   * I-80/94 and I-90 linking Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
   * I-5 in California, Oregon and Washington.
   * I-70 from Missouri to Ohio.
   * I-69 from Texas to Michigan.
   * I-80 in Nevada and California.
   * I-10 from California to Florida.
   The proposals include projects to expand highway capacity, truck-only lanes, freight and passenger rail development, and extensive use of new technologies to smooth traffic flow and improve safety.
   Final selections are scheduled for this summer. Winners will be selected based on their potential impact, as well as use of innovative financing and project delivery techniques.
   Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the department will aggressively support the development of the Corridors of the Future by accelerating permitting schedules, identifying new financing options, and promoting innovative project delivery methods to 'move these projects from the drawing board to completion faster than ever before.'
   Members of Congress in districts along the corridors praised the program as a sorely needed way to improve the efficiency of the nation's transportation network.
   DOT officials originally planned to announce the down-selection one week ago but had to postpone because of a conflict with Peters’ schedule.