The Arkansas Department of Transportation and three urban transportation areas in the state are receiving $128.4 million in funds from the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill Congress passed late last year.
Of that total, the Transportation Department is receiving $120 million, Kevin Thornton, the agency's assistant chief for administration, said Wednesday.
The balance of the money is being apportioned under federal distribution formulas to metropolitan planning agencies in Central Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas and West Memphis, Thornton told the Arkansas Highway Commission at its meeting in Little Rock.
Metroplan, which encompasses Central Arkansas, received $4.7 million, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission received $3.2 million and the West Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization received $440,000.
A total of $10 billion was available for state transportation agencies, the first time they were included in a federal pandemic relief package, Thornton said.
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
Passed at the same time of the relief package was a full year of federal transportation funding.
"We are pleased Congress and the president have seen fit to provide not only a full year's federal funding but also covid relief funding that acknowledges the impacts to our transportation funding and to the economy of our state," Thornton said.
Travel volumes across the United States dropped dramatically in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, but since has returned to normal levels, said Lorie Tudor, the agency's director who began her tenure on March 20, at the beginning of the pandemic.
Her department and other state transportation agencies rely on taxes on motor fuels to help pay for road and bridge construction and maintenance.
The rolling 12-month fuel consumption average, including both gasoline and diesel, is down 3.7%, according to Patrick Patton, the department's chief fiscal officer.
Tudor said department revenue is off $10.4 million since the pandemic began. The department collects about $500 million in state fuel taxes annually.
The department hasn't decided what to do with the relief money, Thornton told the commission.
"We're going to be working on some recommendations for your consideration on how these funds can best be used to benefit the citizens of Arkansas and we will be presenting those at a later time," he said.
The money comes with fewer strings attached than other federal money, Thornton added. The money doesn't require the state to match the amount with a percentage of its own and the state has until 2024 to spend it, he said.
The metropolitan planning organizations also welcomed the money.
At Metroplan, the money will be added to funds available for a "call for projects" to be held later this spring, said Casey Covington, the agency's executive director.
The agency receives $14 million to $15 million annually for transportation infrastructure projects. Covington said the amount likely is on the lower end this year, which means the agency will have an extra $3 million available for member cities and counties to spend on their projects. Applications for the money typically exceed the amount available.
"It's really nice that we can get to spread that out," Covington said. "There's a little more flexibility in how long we have to obligate those funds. But we're not going to turn down any funds. We're looking forward to getting to spend them on projects in Central Arkansas."
In Northwest Arkansas, the money will go to projects that already have been screened and in some cases awarded some but not all of the money member jurisdictions requested, said Jeff Hawkins, executive director for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
In the first round, 11 projects received some or all of the funding requested and three more received no funding, he said. When the commission board approved the projects last year, the board included a provision that allowed for the possibility of additional funding.
The money went to seven projects that either received some funding or no funding, Hawkins said.
"They're all going to get funding to some degree or additional funding to some degree as a result of this money," he said. "It worked out pretty well so we didn't have to go through another round of competition and applications."
