DOT Sets Funding Plan for Highway ‘Corridors of the Future’

The Department of Transportation said Monday that six major interstate routes will be the first to participate in a new federal initiative called “Corridors of the Future” to develop multi-state corridors to help reduce congestion.

The announcement follows a year-long competition to select a handful of interstate corridors from among the 38 applications to join the program, DOT said.

The selected corridors — Interstate 95, I-70, I-15, I-5, I-10, and I-69 — carry 22.7% of the nation’s daily interstate travel, the department said.

DOT will award:

• $21.8 million for I-95 from Florida to the Canadian border;

• $5 million for I-70 in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio;

• $15 million for I-15 in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California;

• $15 million for I-5 in California, Oregon, and Washington;

• $8.6 million for I-10 from California to Florida; and

• $800,000 for I-69 from Texas to Michigan.

“We are using a comprehensive approach to fighting congestion along these major interstate routes,” Deputy of Transportation Secretary Thomas Barrett said.

“What we are doing represents a real break from past approaches that have failed to address growing congestion along our busiest corridors,” he said in a statement.