The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced a $22 million grant to the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service to modernize and reconstruct a 0.7-mile segment of the Norris to Golden Gate roadway in Yellowstone National Park. The road is a critical transportation link to Yellowstone’s major destinations and the millions of people who visit the park each year as well as local residents and surrounding communities. The project will significantly improve the exceptionally difficult and challenging roadway to improve safety and pedestrian access, alleviate rockfall hazards, and upgrade vehicle pullouts and parking areas, and add new pedestrian facilities to separate people from traffic.
“Good transportation elements are key to experiencing the great outdoors at Yellowstone National Park,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The grant for the National Park Service will make travel there more convenient for tourists, residents, workers and local businesses.”
“The funding announced today is the latest in a multitude of collaborations undertaken as part of our partnership spanning decades with the National Park Service,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “This partnership is helping to make visits to Yellowstone and the 428 other national parks across the country safer, more enjoyable, and convenient for years to come. We’re thrilled to be working with the National Park Service to improve access to and from this national treasure by providing a safer, more modern and reliable travel experience.”
Tourism is the critical driver of the economy in and around Yellowstone National Park. In 2021, over 4.9* million people visited the park and spent over $630 million in communities near the park, according to the National Park Service. That spending supported about 8,740 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of over $834 million. Transportation improvements to the Norris to Golden Gate roadway will contribute to increased tourism and a higher-quality visitor experience, promoting sustained economic competitiveness for the entire rural region.
“As we continue to experience record visitation at public lands across the country, now is the time to make the investments that are long overdue,” said Department of the Interior Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Joan Mooney. “Through the President’s Investing in America agenda we continue to address critical infrastructure needs in some of the Country’s most iconic public lands.”
“We are proud of our relationship with the Federal Highway Administration,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly. “From helping us reopen the park after the major flood in 2022, to helping us complete hundreds of millions of dollars in new infrastructure investments across Yellowstone, the Federal Highway Administration continues to be a critical partner.”
The Yellowstone National Park project is one of five nationwide receiving a total of $88.2 million in Fiscal Year 2023 funding under FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects Program. FHWA also announced $20.5 million in Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF) grants for 80 projects today. The full list of grant recipients can be found at Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund.
The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides up to $355 million per year in Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. The law also modifies the program by requiring that half of all funding go to projects on Tribal communities and increases the Federal share of projects on Tribal transportation facilities to 100 percent.
In the coming weeks, FHWA expects to make additional funding available under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program through a Notice of Funding Opportunity. To obtain updates on this and other future funding opportunities, please sign up for the Office of Tribal Transportation mailing list.
To further assist the 574 Federally Recognized Tribes and their transportation priorities, FHWA has developed a Transportation Funding Opportunities for Tribal Nations guide which provides information on new highway programs created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as existing highway and bridge transportation funding programs.
