Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) announced nearly $50M in the Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants, previously TIGER grants, for the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County. Castor advocated for these significant investments in our community, which will lead to more jobs and boost economic development.

“The nearly $50M in federal BUILD grants that are on the way to Tampa and Hillsborough County will lift our neighborhoods, build mobility, increase connectivity throughout the county, and provide needed improvements to our streets. I rigorously championed the vision of our city and county due to the transformational improvements that previous grants have provided for the Tampa Bay area and the related jobs that were created. In fact, our Tampa Riverwalk original phase was completed thanks to $10M in federal funding - and it’s been the linchpin in Tampa's redeveloping downtown and waterfront. Mayor Castor, Commissioner Miller and other local leaders have been tremendous partners in helping to secure these infrastructure dollars and build on our shared vision for a safer, friendlier, and connected community,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.

“Today’s announcement of a $25 million BUILD grant for Hillsborough County is critical as our population grows and addressing the infrastructure needs of our community to ensure our region’s economic competitiveness while improving mobility,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller.

The $24M City of Tampa BUILD grant will be used to complete approximately 12 miles of contiguous multi-modal path separated from vehicle traffic, with complete streets and traffic calming improvements. The project will connect downtown Tampa, the University of Tampa, West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Bayshore, Hyde Park and Ybor City with multimodal paths, complete streets and under bridge/over water segments, site work, new pavement, guard rails, lighting, landscaping, and seawall repair.

The $25M Hillsborough County BUILD grant will be used to widen and reconstruct the existing interchange at Big Bend Road and I-75, including additional bicycle lanes and multiuse paths and a roundabout at the intersection Old Big Bend Road and Bullfrog Creek Road.

Hillsborough County and City of Tampa were the only award recipients in Florida to receive a competitive BUILD grant.