Two Arkansas projects will receive a total of $48.8 million in federal grants from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program for trails and road improvements.

The RAISE grants, which will benefit Bryant and Russellville, were announced Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

A $25 million grant will go to the Arkansas Department of Transportation to reconstruct about 3.6 miles of Old Stagecoach Road, also known as Arkansas 5, in Bryant.

The Old Stagecoach Road ran from Cape Girardeau, Mo., down to Little Rock, over to Hot Springs, through the territorial capital in Arkansas Post, and then on to Monroe, La., according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

In Saline County, Arkansas 5 parallels Interstate 30 and provides an alternate route from Bryant to Little Rock.

The reconstruction project will create a shared-use path, otherwise known as a paved trail on one side of the highway; add continuous sidewalks; make storm drainage improvements; and complete utility work, according to the RAISE 2023 Fact Sheets and a news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to the state Transportation Department, a study from 2017 concluded that increasing traffic growth would soon result in “unacceptable traffic operations” at intersections with traffic signals on Old Stagecoach Road between Arkansas 183 and the Pulaski/Saline county line during the morning and afternoon peak periods.

The purpose of the project is to relieve traffic congestion and enhance safety for all roadway users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, according to the state Transportation Department.

The other grant would go to the city of Russellville. It will provide $23,752,759 for a 13.8-mile expansion of Russellville’s Connected Trail System, connecting the areas north of Interstate 40 to the south at Lock and Dam Park on the Arkansas River, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. The project will also connect the trail system with downtown.

According to the Fact Sheet, the proposal will fund 10-foot-wide multi-use trails and 10-foot-wide side paths.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican who represents Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District, said funding for the projects announced Wednesday came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and from the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2023. He said the U.S. Department of Transportation commingles funding from different sources.

Womack said all of Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because Democrats tied it to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better program.

“If you want me to vote for your stuff, you’ve got to vote for my stuff,” Womack said of the proposal by Democrats. “So the infrastructure bill passed without any Arkansas congressional votes.”

He said the omnibus bill was totally different.

“I was the only member of the delegation to vote for the ’23 omni,” said Womack. “I did so principally because if we didn’t pass the ’23 omni in late December, we were heading toward a continuing resolution and that was going to be devastating to the U.S. military. And so I had to hold my nose. I voted for it. Got criticized for it, but I did it out of deference to U.S. military support.”

Womack said he was worried that there could have been a government shutdown if the omnibus bill didn’t pass.

Womack said several community projects that would have gone to his district were in the bill including millions of dollars for Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith.

“So, I didn’t want to lose that,” he said.

“I think we said at the time when the infrastructure package went through, ‘Look, it has nothing to do with infrastructure. It has everything to do with our ability to get something done on infrastructure without having to suck down whatever the remainder of that Build Back Better program was going to do, which … was the better part of a $2 trillion deal with tax increases and a whole lot of junk in it,” said Womack.

“I just don’t want anybody trying to read that I’m against infrastructure, because, my God, I’m for infrastructure,” he said. “I want infrastructure. But I don’t want it tied to the Build Back Better program. On the ’23 omni, it was all about national security and my local projects.”

Womack said Sens. Boozman and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also voted for the omnibus bill.

Womack said he’s happy Russellville got funding. It’s his hometown. But since the last round of redistricting, it’s no longer in his congressional district.

Womack said three projects in his district were proposed for RAISE funds, but none won grants.

Those proposals included a Butterfield Overland Trail bridge over the Arkansas River between Fort Smith and Van Buren, the widening of Arkansas 112 between Fayetteville and Bentonville, and a Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority project to do railroad connectivity in the Fort Smith area.

Womack said he personally spoke with Buttigieg about the Arkansas 112 widening, but it didn’t receive funding.

This year, the RAISE program is funding more than $2.2 billion for projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two territories, according to the news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Half of this year’s funding is going to rural areas and the other half to urban areas.

The grants are part of Biden’s Investing in America agenda, according to the news release.

“This year’s awarded projects will help more people get where they need to be quickly, affordably, and safely,” according to the news release. “From projects that will strengthen supply chains and reduce bottlenecks, to bridge replacements and road projects to make them safer and more efficient for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, this year’s awards will build and repair infrastructure that benefits Americans for future generations to come, while taking steps to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and support wealth creation and good-paying union jobs. Seventy percent of the grants are going to projects in regions defined as an Area of Persistent Poverty or a Historically Disadvantaged Community.”

Like last year, demand for RAISE funding was higher than available funds. This year, the U.S. Department of Transportation received $15 billion in requests for the $2.26 billion available.

Last year, one Arkansas project received a RAISE grant. The city of Conway was awarded $24,647,664 to develop about 15 miles of infrastructure that included multiuse paths, side paths, bridges, cycle tracks and trail heads, removing physical barriers and connecting east and west Conway.