Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe announced on Wednesday that Bryan County was awarded a $62 million grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program.
The grant is designed to “improve safety and efficiency of high volume freight traffic along the US 69/75 corridor in southern Oklahoma,” according to a press release issued by Inhofe’s office.
“I applaud Oklahoma’s local leaders for their hard work that resulted in our state being awarded one of the 18 new FASTLANE grants out of 212 applicants,” said Inhofe. “The $62 million in funding will compliment state funds for upgrading the US 69/75 corridor to improve freight movement and safety while also reducing congestion. The demand for FASTLANE, which authorized $800 million for 2016, has far exceeded expectations. The impressive turnout of applicants across the nation goes to show how critical freight investment is to our transportation system. This is the first grant program of this kind and size and its arrival is long awaited. I look forward to the continued success of the FASTLANE program as it is a significant tool to put America back on the map as the best place to do business.”
The Bryan County project is the third largest grant awarded under the new program. No grants were awarded to any of the states bordering Oklahoma.
“This is a prime example of Congress working together with the state and local representatives to advance a project of national importance. The US 69/75 corridor has become a dangerous corridor, resulting in numerous severe accidents over the years. This expansion project will improve overall safety for everyday users of the intersection corridor while also creating cost-saving efficiency in the movement of goods across the region,” said Gary Ridley, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Transportation. “In coordination with Senator Inhofe, Congressman Markwayne Mullin and the Choctaw Nation, we were able to narrow down the best project to put forward for grant consideration under the National Significant Freight and Highway Projects program.”
