The White House announced this week that Michigan is in line to get $1.6 billion in new federal infrastructure funding. It’s part of a nationwide allocation of federal infrastructure funds for states to use.
The federal government has set 11 broad categories, including bridges and highways, air quality, and building up a network of electric vehicle charging stations for funding.
White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu told Michigan Public Radio that an electric vehicle charging network is a high priority for the Michigan funds.
“You can see with all the auto manufacturers starting to manufacture electric vehicles and one of the challenges that folks have with buying them is a place to charge them when you’re on the highways and so the President has allocated money for each state to set up electric vehicle charging stations on the interstate system,” he said.
Other spending categories include state and local bridges, air quality and carbon reduction. Landrieu said the state will be allowed a lot of flexibility to determine how the federal funds will be used.
“This money is going to be used by the governor and the folks there to rebuild the highways, to build off-system bridges, to work on electric vehicle charging stations and the like, so it’s just another big win for the State of Michigan,” he said.
The money is part of a larger $1.2 trillion national infrastructure package that was approved by Congress with bipartisan support.
