Public highways to get improvement grants

Sixty-eight road projects in 31 states — including Oregon — will receive $93.9 million in Public Lands Highways grant funds to improve access to public lands, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced Wednesday.

“The roads that carry America to and through its national parks, tribal lands or any of the other federal lands need help, just like the rest of the national highway system,” said LaHood in a statement. “These funds will help protect the roads for the many who depend on them and improve the quality of life for communities served by these unique places.”

The funds will improve and increase accessibility on the lands of 15 Native American tribes, 11 military bases, 19 national park units, 10 national forests and four national wildlife refuges.

Unlike most of the nation’s public roads which are managed by state departments of transportation, federal lands roads are maintained by various tribal and federal agencies. Funds from the Public Lands Highways grant program supplement their existing infrastructure programs. They can also be used for cities and counties that are responsible for the roads providing access to federal and tribal lands.

In Oregon, U.S. Highway 199 improvements get $475,000 and U.S. Highway 42 improvements get $1,425,000.