The Biden administration is announcing 166 new federal grants Thursday for transportation projects from the bipartisan infrastructure law.

“One thing I think you’ll see come across as we speak to communities that are receiving grant awards is how passionate they are about the need for their project,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on a call with reporters previewing the announcements. “We hear from residents who live with transportation infrastructure challenges every day and communities that have great ideas about how to address them.”

The 166 awards, totaling more than $2.2 billion, are the first from funding in the 2021 law for what are called RAISE grants, for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity. RAISE grants — which may include a 20 percent matching fund requirement — can go to a wide variety of entities, including states, territories and Washington, D.C., as well as tribes, cities and regional transportation entities.

Projects in some key midterm battleground states are among those the administration chose to highlight.

Buttigieg is scheduled to appear with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Democratic members of the Arizona congressional delegation later Thursday in Phoenix and Tucson to highlight two of those projects. A $25 million grant in Tucson includes roadway upgrades and a new bridge over Union Pacific Railroad tracks that the administration says could help with supply chains. Several other projects in Arizona, including in rural tribal areas, will be funded.

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