Overview
The PROTECT program includes up to $848 million in available funds for projects that address the climate crisis by improving the resilience of the surface transportation system. Selected projects should be grounded in the best available scientific understanding of climate change risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities; utilize innovative and collaborative approaches to risk reduction, including the use of natural infrastructure; and should have the potential to demonstrate innovation and best practices that State and local governments in other parts of the country can replicate. The PROTECT grant program includes the following four categories of eligible activities:
- Planning Grants:
- Developing a Resilience Improvement Plan.
- Resilience planning, predesign, design, or the development of data tools to simulate transportation disruption scenarios, including vulnerability assessments.
- Evacuation planning and preparation.
- Resilience Improvement Grants:
- Incorporation of natural infrastructure.
- Installation of mitigation measures that prevent the intrusion of floodwaters into surface transportation systems.
- Upgrades to and installation of structural stormwater controls.
- Stabilizing slide areas or slopes.
- Installing riprap.
- Community Resilience & Evacuation Route Grants
- Projects that ensure evacuation route capability to provide safe passage during a disaster and reduce the risk of evacuation route damage resulting from future emergency events.
- Expansion of evacuation route capacity to support evacuations swiftly and safely, including the installation of communication and intelligent transportation system.
- Projects to ensure access or service to critical destinations, including hospitals and other medical or emergency service facilities.
- At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants
- Strengthening, stabilizing, hardening, elevating, relocating, or otherwise enhancing the resilience of highway and non-rail infrastructure, including the following: bridges, roads, pedestrian walkways, and bicycle lanes; and associated infrastructure, such as culverts and tide gates to protect highways that are subject to, or face increased long-term future risks of, a weather event, a natural disaster, or changing conditions.
FY 2024 NOFO Release Date: TBD
FY 2024 Submission Date: TBD
For additional detailed information, please see the FHWA PROTECT Webpage.
FY 2022, 2023, & 2024 PROTECT Grant Applications Submitted by MDT
| Grant Application Name | Project Type | Grant Application Description | Approx. Amount Requested |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2024 Applications | |||
| Scour Bridge Bundle | Construction | Repair of 9 scour critical bridges in the MDT District 2 (Butte) area. All 9 bridges are in need of replacement or rehab. This will improve the resiliency of the bridges. | TBD |
| FY 2023 Applications | |||
| PROTECTing Montana’s Bridges | Construction | Replace 14 local scour-critical (water-induced erosion) bridges that are at risk from climate-related changes like severe flooding. The scour-critical bridges occur across 12 Montana counties. | $23,500,000 |
| FY 2022 Applications | |||
| No submittals. | |||