Southern Arizona city awarded $25 million in federal transportation grant
Dec 13, 2023, 4:35 AM | Updated: Dec 14, 2023, 11:35 am
Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, spoke on how the Rural Program is helping projects like the one in San Luis, Yuma County. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — The Biden-Harris administration awarded San Luis a $25 million grant toward its Cesar Chavez Boulevard Multimodal Improvements project, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
The project aims to reconstruct five miles of Cesar Chavez Boulevard, connecting the San Luis II Commercial Port of Entry with State Route 195, which then connects to Interstate 8.
Expected to be completed in 2026, it will cost a total of $33 million. The federal grant, part of $645 million which will also help 17 other projects across the country, covers about three-fourths of the reconstruction in Yuma County.
“Rural communities face some of the toughest transportation challenges, yet are often left out of major federal investments, a pattern that we are changing that under President Biden’s leadership,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The grants we’re announcing today will make transportation in rural communities better, safer and more reliable.”
The Cesar Chavez Boulevard project includes stormwater infrastructure improvements, bus stops, intersection improvements, sidewalks and more. The project aims to improve safety and increase regional connectivity.
The grant comes from President Biden’s Rural Program, part of his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which invests a total of $2 billion across the country through 2026.
With over $7.4 billion in requests coming from 174 applicants, the administration said the Rural Program is oversubscribed.
San Luis qualified based on multiple criteria, including “project readiness, cost-effectiveness and whether the project supported critical goals like enhancing safety …” according to a release from the administration.
