WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) today announced two U.S. Department of Transportation grants have been awarded to infrastructure projects in Arkansas. The city of Russellville will receive a $23,752,759 for a 13.8-mile expansion of its Connected Trail System, connecting the areas north of Interstate-40 to the south at Lock and Dam Park. Additionally, the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) has been awarded $25,000,000 to reconstruct approximately 3.6 miles of Old Stagecoach Road (Highway 5).

The Russellville project will create approximately 13 miles of new active transportation infrastructure connecting the trail system with the Historic Downtown District and shopping, restaurants and other businesses. 

The ARDOT project in Bryant will reconstruct approximately 3.6 miles of Old Stagecoach Road (Highway 5), create a shared-use path, add continuous sidewalks, make storm drainage improvements and complete utility work.

“Improvements to our transportation infrastructure such as this are crucial to Arkansas’s economic development and enhancing our standard of living. Our state is filled with beautiful trails and outdoor spaces that we can and should continue to utilize and develop,” said Boozman. “I’m pleased the Department of Transportation awarded this funding for projects important to multiple Natural State communities.” 

“This funding will go to infrastructure projects that are critical to maintaining roads, trails, and railways in Arkansas. I’m pleased Senator Boozman and I were able to secure the grants for these projects,” Cotton said.

The funding comes from the Department of Transportation’s RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) Discretionary Grant program that works to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives. Both were made possible through Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations that Boozman and Cotton voted in support of last year.