Truck parking projects among RAISE grants

More than $40 million will go toward truck parking-related projects as part of a series of infrastructure grants announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced on Wednesday, June 28, more than $2.2 billion in Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grants were awarded to 162 projects around the country.

The RAISE grant program was expanded under the 2021 infrastructure law and supports communities of all sizes, with half of the fiscal year 2023 funding going to rural areas and the other half to urban areas.

“Using the funds in President Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” Buttigieg said in a news release. “This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain and more.”

Truck parking projects

The grants include truck parking-related projects in Texas, Louisiana and Michigan. Projects in Texas and Louisiana are expected to add about 150 truck parking spots, while the project in Michigan is focused on electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

• $9 million to Caldwell County, Texas. The project will fund the design and construction of a commercial truck parking plaza in the northwest quadrant of state Highway 130 and the San Marcos Highway/state Highway 80 intersection. The plaza will include about 20 short-term and 100 long-term truck parking spaces. The project also will have entry/exit gate control, lighting, fencing, 24-hour monitored security, and a rest stop with restrooms, showers and other amenities.
• $10.5 million to Caldwell Parish, La. The project will fund the land acquisition and construction activities for a truck parking facility located near the inland Port of Columbia, Ouachita River and state Highway 165. This will include parking for about 50 commercial trucks and 100 cars, as well as 12 electric vehicle charging stations.
• $8.5 million to Wayne County, Mich. The project, dubbed the Truck Stop of the Future Initiative, will construct electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Redford, Mich., for Class 1-8 vehicles. The project will include multiple DC fast chargers, solar canopies and battery energy storage systems.

The Texas project is touted to reduce crashes involving trucks parked in unauthorized locations and reduce traffic on Interstate 35.

Louisiana’s parking project is expected to increase multimodal freight movement and reduce supply chain bottlenecks.

The Truck Stop of the Future Initiative in Michigan is intended to serve as a prototype for the region’s transition to low-emission electric vehicles.

Truck drivers routinely mention the lack of truck parking as one of the issues in the industry. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has been pushing for the passage of the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which would allocate $755 million for truck parking over the next three years.

A full list of RAISE grant projects can be found here. LL