FAYETTEVILLE -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $11.9 million in emergency relief money for roads and bridges damaged by natural disaster last year in Northwest Arkansas, according to a news release.
The money will be used to reimburse the Arkansas Transportation Department and the U.S. Forest Service for repairs to roads and bridges damaged by flooding in the northwest part of the state and the Ozark-St.Francis National Forest in 2021.
The money is also expected to help Arkansas address ongoing impacts of climate change and severe weather.
Dave Parker, spokesman for the state transportation department, said the money will assist the department with the cost of repairing damage on the federal-aid highways in Arkansas caused by the storms and flash flooding that began April 28, 2021. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued emergency declarations following that flooding.
Parker said the highway department expects to receive about $10 million of the money for repair work and $1.9 million will go to the Forest Service. Those amounts are based on specific damages and repair estimates following the floods.
"Natural disasters continually impact roads on the forest," said Tracy Farley, public affairs officer for the Forest Service. "We are checking into the specifics of this announcement and are always appreciative of emergency funding to address those critical infrastructure needs."
It's part of an ongoing effort to help states repair and rebuild critical infrastructure residents and businesses rely on following extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent, harder to predict and more severe due to a changing climate, according to the release.
The money awarded to Arkansas is part of an overall $513.2 million in the Emergency Relief Program package to help 30 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to repair roads and bridges damaged by storms, floods, wildfires and other events in recent years.
"From recent hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast, to wildfires in California and floods and mudslides in numerous states, we must address the devastating impacts of climate change and work to build more sustainable transportation infrastructure to better withstand its impacts for years to come," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The nation's transportation infrastructure is facing more frequent and unpredictable damage from severe weather events, according to Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack.
"The emergency relief funding this administration is announcing today will overwhelmingly go toward repairing damage caused by these extreme weather events tied to climate change as we work with states to repair roads and bridges relied upon by communities across the country," Pollock said.
The emergency relief program complements the Biden-Harris administration's comprehensive approach to combating climate change and mitigating its ongoing effects by encouraging transportation agencies to identify and implement measures that make restored infrastructure more resilient and better able to withstand damage from future events, according to the federal transportation department news release.