With the help of $30 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the new Mercer Corridor will bring long-awaited congestion relief, connect growing Seattle neighborhoods to transit centers and I-5, and provide new facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The grant is part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program included in the Recovery Act to promote innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that provide significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, region or the nation.
Of the more than $26.6 billion in Recovery highway dollars available nationwide, Washington received nearly $492 million for highways - excluding TIGER grants. As of August 27, the state had funded 221 projects, with 73 projects under way and 131 completed.
In addition to this Mercer grant, the US Department of Transportation awarded a $35 million TIGER grant to the Washington State Department of Transportation for work on the North Spokane Corridor.