Press Release
Today, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded $12.8 million to support two projects in South Carolina from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program to help move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, and intermodal transportation and make our transportation systems safer, more accessible, more affordable, and more sustainable. This year's total allocations nationwide include more than $2.2 billion thanks to the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the program to help meet the strong demand to help projects get moving across the country.
“We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America's transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible, and more sustainable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Using funds from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this year we are supporting more projects than ever before.”
Projects were evaluated on several criteria, including safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, economic competitiveness and opportunity, partnership and collaboration, innovation, state of good repair, and mobility and community connectivity. Within these areas, the Department considered how projects will improve accessibility for all travelers, bolster supply chain efficiency, and support racial equity and economic growth – especially in historically disadvantaged communities and areas of persistent poverty.
In South Carolina, the following projects will benefit from RAISE awards:
- Investing in Countywide Infrastructure to Equitably and Sustainably Connect Greenville – The Greenville Transit Authority will receive $5.8 million to fund construction for Greenville Transit Authority’s (Greenlink) bus stop infrastructure that will include shelter, push button lighting, and benches at a total of approximately 336 bus stops. The project will increase transportation equity by expanding options for transit-dependent users and all users of the Greenlink service. The project will improve safety by implementing solar-powered push technologies to enable security lights, during low visible transit hours.
- Lowcountry Lowline: Reconnecting Disadvantaged Communities near I-266 – The City of Charleston will receive $7 million for planning and pre-construction activities such as design engineering, permitting, environmental remediation of contaminated soil, National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review, equity-focused community engagement, and project management for an approximate 2-mile shared pathway that will create new linkages to metro area’s transit system. Once completed, this project will allow for more affordable transportation options, decreasing the number of miles people need to drive and reducing vehicle
emissions. A brownfield site will be rehabilitated, and flood management will be improved. This project will create a multimodal network that will connect disadvantaged communities to essential services. The project aims to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the original construction of the interstate and improve connections to transit and other transportation options. The project leverages public and private partnerships and collaborates with a variety of stakeholders.
The RAISE program is one of several ways communities can secure funding for projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's competitive grant programs. Later this year, the Biden-Harris Administration will announce recipients of the first-ever National Infrastructure Project Assistance (MEGA) program, as well as the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program and the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (RURAL).
