ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

State and local government groups are calling on Congress to create a national workforce strategy for transportation jobs as Connecticut grapples with a need for 450 engineers to spend federal infrastructure funds.

While local communities have more access to federal infrastructure funds to improve transportation, rising project costs are creating difficulties.

WASHINGTON — Six months after the signing of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure package, the government said May 16 there are 4,300 projects underway with more than $110 billion in funding announced — milestones the administration is publicly heralding as midterm politics intensify.

The top transportation policymaker in the U.S. Senate touted a White House agency’s role in enhancing the environmental permitting process and responding to climate change.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pointed to grants proposed by the Biden White House for fiscal 2023 as funding that potentially could modernize major aspects of the country’s mobility network.

Legislation designed to enhance funding for the country’s commercial waterways was easily approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this month.

The Port of Camden is among the winning projects chosen by the New Jersey Department of Transportation for $30 million in freight impact grants to improve traffic safety for large trucks.

The country’s top transportation officer called on Senate funding leaders to approve the White House’s fiscal 2023 budget, one he said aims to modernize passenger and freight corridors with the goal of enhancing the economy.

Rural communities across the country are participating through the National League of Cities in a White House virtual initiative to learn more about gaining access to federal infrastructure funds.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is restoring federal regulations guiding environmental reviews of major infrastructure projects such as highways and pipelines that were scaled back by the Trump administration in a bid to fast-track the projects.