01.06.12

Delegation Announces More Than $275 Million in Emergency Highway Funding for North Dakota

Federal Funding to Offset Costs Incurred to Raise, Improve State's Roadways

Washington – Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven and Congressman Rick Berg today announced the awarding of $276,119,862 in federal highway funding to shore up roadways throughout the state that were damaged by floodwaters earlier this year. This is part of more than $316 million North Dakota will receive in federal Emergency Relief (ER) funding, a record for the state, and nearly 25 percent of all federal emergency relief funding to be distributed nationwide.

“Flooding in nearly every corner of the state made last year one of the most challenging on record,” the delegation said in a joint statement. “These resources represent a significant investment in the maintenance and safety of the hundreds of miles of North Dakota’s federal highways.”

The total dollar figure includes more than $89 million for threatened roadways throughout the Devils Lake region, more than $50 million for the West James River Basin, more than $39 million for the South Mouse River Basin and more than $9 million in the Sheyenne/James River Basin. The delegation secured an additional $88 million total to deliver additional support for each of these regions under the appropriation for 2011.  

The delegation noted that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Emergency Relief program establishes resources for the repair or reconstruction of Federal-aid highways and roads that have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters or catastrophic failures from an external cause.

The Emergency Relief program resources are used to repair or restore essential roadways, minimize the extent of damage, or protect the remaining facilities as well as permanent repairs necessary to restore the highway to its pre-disaster condition.

The delegation and the state are working with the U.S. Department of Transportation to cover as much of the cost of necessary flood repair work as possible under regular federal highway funding, emergency relief funding and state match, for both this year and next. Under federal law the state is capped at $100 million per flood event, which is a challenge for Devils Lake. However, the delegation is working to secure additional funding in the next fiscal year for the Devils Lake region due to the ongoing nature of the flooding there.

This funding was awarded by the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief program through funds appropriated by Congress.