Flint, Mich., will receive $20 million in infrastructure improvement funds as one of the winners of a Department of Transportation grant competition.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., whose congressional district includes Flint, commended the Obama administration and Department of Transportation for their support of the city during its ongoing water crisis in a statement on Friday.
“This funding comes at a crucial time and will help to rebuild Flint’s infrastructure from the ground up. Replacing the water mains and completing much-needed road repairs is a vital step in the process of Flint’s recovery. However, the administration’s efforts alone are not enough, and I will continue to fight in Congress for actions that will bring long-term investments and resources to the residents of Flint,” said Rep. Kildee.
The city has been in the midst of a public health crisis since state officials approved switching the city’s water source in 2014 to the more corrosive Flint River, which damaged the city’s old lead pipes.
The announcement comes the same day that six state officials, including some from the former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, were charged with falsifying reports about the increasing lead levels and other contaminents in the public water system.
The Transportation Investment Generation Economic Recovery (TIGER) program grant will cover about half of the $40 million to complete the infrastructure improvement project, which includes roadway reconstruction. The intention is to reduce overall costs by completing the improvements at the same time as Flint replaces its water lines.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the Flint funding along with nearly $500 million overall awarded in the competitive grant program for transportation projects across the country on Friday.
“For the eighth year running, TIGER will inject critical infrastructure dollars into communities across the country,” said Secretary Foxx in a statement released on Friday. “This unique program rewards innovative thinking and collaborative solutions to difficult and sometimes dangerous transportation problems.
Initiated during the Obama administration, the TIGER grant competition is designed to support projects that may face an uphill battle gaining funding from traditional federal programs. The half a billion dollars promised will be part of an overall $1.74 billion in overall transportation investments this year alone, but demand for the federal funds exceeds available resources.
Rep. Kildee is sponsoring a $760 million bill to help the city recover from the water crisis called the Families of Flint Act, which failed to pass before Congress left session in July. The legislation would allocate federal funds to help replace the city’s lead pipes, increase services to those exposed to lead and support local economic development.
