MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. — U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured infrastructure projects and celebrated a federal grant program aimed at improving fish passage in Washington state Thursday.
Buttigieg began touring the Apple Capital Loop Project in Wenatchee, which received $92 million of federal funds from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The funding will help construct an 11-mile loop of projects including intersection improvements to SR 285 and North Wenatchee Avenue, the construction of a railroad underpass on McKittrick Street and more. You can find more information on the city's website.
Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Congresswoman Kim Schrier and Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz accompanied Buttigieg during his visit.
“Every day, over a hundred thousand vehicles move through the Loop, getting families and freight where they need to go,” said Murray. “In short, the Apple Capitol loop is a cornerstone of the community and economy, and it’s critical to make sure it’s safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly."
Buttigieg visited the Carey Creek Culvert in Maple Valley and celebrated the official launch of the first-of-its-kind $1 billion Culvert Grant Program, aimed at helping fish passage and population. Murray, Cantwell, Schrier, Congressman Rick Larsen and local and tribal leaders joined Buttigieg in the announcement.
The Culvert Grant Program will remove and repair culverts under roads that can prevent fish passage. The grant program is a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's Replacement and Restoration-Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage Program.
“With this investment, we’re helping protect local economies that count on healthy fisheries and also make key roads less prone to flooding,” said Buttigieg. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this first-in-its-kind effort will begin to address the longstanding challenges posed by existing culverts for fishing and Tribal communities, from the Pacific Northwest to the low-lying communities in the Southeast.”
The program will also help make culverts and weirs more resilient to the impacts of climate change, including increased flooding and other weather events.
For more information on the Culvert AOP Program, visit the DOT's website.
