PROTECT Grants Now Available to Strengthen Roads Against Extreme Weather
The U.S. Department of Transportation is now accepting applications under the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program to plan for and strengthen surface transportation to be more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters.
Townships are eligible to apply for four types of PROTECT grants until February 24, 2025:
- Planning Grants for resilience planning, development of data tools to simulate transportation disruption scenarios, including vulnerability assessments, or evacuation planning and preparation.
- Resilience Improvement Grants for construction projects to improve an existing surface transportation asset to withstand a weather event or natural disaster, or to increase the resilience of surface transportation infrastructure from the impacts of changing conditions, such as sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters.
- Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants for projects that strengthen and protect essential evacuation routes.
- At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants for townships bordering Lake Erie to strengthen or enhance the resilience of bridges, roads, walkways, bicycle lanes, and culverts to protect against a weather event, natural disaster, or changing conditions, including flooding, erosion, storm surge, or sea level rise.
PennDOT will consider providing support for regional grant proposals. The deadline to request PennDOT support is February 10, 2025, via email to RA-PDTRANSFEDFUNDOPP@pa.gov. For more information, view the PennDOT grant alert fact sheet.
