Shelby Announces DOT BUILD Grant Awards in Tuscaloosa and the Wiregrass Region

Statement

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded two Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants to fund efforts for infrastructure improvements in Alabama. One BUILD grant is for $15 million to the City of Tuscaloosa to improve access to the Riverwalk area in West Tuscaloosa. The second BUILD grant provides $450,000 to the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning & Development Commission to fund the technical and economic feasibility study related to transportation projects in the Wiregrass region.

"I am proud to announce that Alabama has been awarded two BUILD grants, one to improve infrastructure investments in Tuscaloosa and a planning grant to assist the Wiregrass region," said Senator Shelby. "Both BUILD grants will provide important federal resources that will improve infrastructure and promote increased economic development opportunities in Alabama. I would like to thank Secretary Chao, the Department of Transportation, as well as the local communities for their work on these projects."

The BUILD grant for the City of Tuscaloosa will improve access to the Riverwalk area in West Tuscaloosa by improving the Black Warrior River barge mooring, constructing a bicycle and pedestrian path, and completing a pedestrian bridge. The mooring improvements will allow the abandoned lock structure to be used for the construction of the shared-use path. The pedestrian bridge will cross the new Jack Warner Parkway, and the bicycle and pedestrian path will run from the new pedestrian bridge to the existing riverfront park to the east, with lighting and security elements.

The BUILD grant awarded to the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning & Development Commission will fund the technical and economic feasibility study of two projects located in the Wiregrass region. The first project would widen approximately 24 miles of State Route 167 in Alabama from a two-lane undivided roadway to a four-lane divided roadway from the Alabama State Line to U.S. Route 84. The second project would widen approximately 13 miles of State Route 52, extending a segment from Geneva to Dothan that is currently being widened to State Route 167. Both of these projects could receive construction funding in the future.

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