The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) was recently awarded a $60 million grant from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program, also known as the “Mega” grant program, to support a project to widen a section of I-10. A competitive grant, the project was one of only nine to receive funding from hundreds of applications submitted across the country. Created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the grant will be administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“This funding and the project it supports will have a huge positive impact on South Mississippi residents and the 51,000 vehicles that travel I-10 each day,” said Tom King, Chair of the Mississippi Transportation Commission. “This project will strengthen access to Southern cities across the entire Gulf Coast region, providing greater opportunities for economic development as well as a more efficient flow of goods and services.”
The grant funding will support a widening project on I-10 that will involve expanding the interstate from four to six lanes starting just west of Diamondhead to just east of County Farm Road in Harrison County where an existing 6-lane segment ends. Other components of the project include intelligent transportation system (ITS) improvements, construction of a sound wall in the Diamondhead area and drainage improvements.
“MDOT is very grateful to be among the handful of state DOT’s awarded Mega grant funding this year,” said Brad White, MDOT Executive Director. “We thank Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and our entire Congressional Delegation for their strong support of infrastructure projects in Mississippi.”
Nearly $1.2 billion was awarded from the Mega grant program in the 2022 funding cycle. The program funds projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail and public transportation projects that are a part of one of the other project types.
MDOT is currently finalizing plans for the project and anticipates work to begin late in 2023 or early 2024. The project will take approximately three years to complete.
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