Federal freight grants target 12 states
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $426 million in fiscal-year 2026 Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects, or INFRA, grants on October 1. USDOT says the awards will support projects in 12 states that address congestion, expand highway or bypass capacity, improve safety and strengthen freight and port connections. An award is funding for a project—not confirmation that new lanes or interchanges are already open.
Florida, Kansas and Louisiana projects directly address truck flow
Florida DOT is receiving $85 million to add one general-use lane in each direction along about 20 miles of I-4 between State Road 434 and State Road 472. Wichita and Kansas DOT are receiving $53.5 million to widen about 2.5 miles of K-96 from four to six lanes; USDOT says the bypass is projected to serve about 5,000 trucks daily. Louisiana is receiving $28 million to replace a signalized intersection with a grade-separated interchange and related improvements along Kaliste Saloom Road and US-90.
Other awards combine freight capacity and safety
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is receiving $25 million to convert a congested four-lane expressway into an eight-lane standard freeway with median barriers and auxiliary lanes. USDOT says the corridor collision rate is 30% above the statewide average and describes the location as a critical National Highway System freight bottleneck. Savannah, Georgia, is receiving $11.3 million for a new four-lane divided connector from I-516 to a realigned White Bluff Road, including storm-culvert improvements on a port-logistics and hurricane-evacuation route.
Construction benefits will take time
The grants support planning and construction work that will proceed through state and local project schedules. Drivers and fleets should not change routes, delivery commitments or equipment assumptions based only on the award announcement. During construction, lane shifts, reduced speeds, closures and temporary access changes may increase trip time before the completed projects improve capacity. Official state and local notices remain the source for work-zone dates, restrictions and detours.
Driver and fleet takeaway
Drivers using the affected corridors should check state DOT traffic alerts before departure, slow down early for work zones, preserve following distance and avoid last-second lane changes. Dispatchers should add realistic construction buffers, confirm legal truck routes and communicate customer appointment risks before the truck reaches the corridor. Fleet planners can flag I-4, K-96, US-90 and the Savannah and Los Angeles projects for future lane analysis, but should evaluate them with current travel-time and rate data rather than treating the federal award as an immediate capacity increase.
U.S. Department of Transportation — FY 2026 INFRA Track 1 Awards
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