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The U.S. Department of Transportation's Build America Bureau is accepting applications for up to $850 million in Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant. The FASTLANE program provides discretionary funding for projects that address critical freight issues on U.S. highways and bridges.

Anthony Foxx

"Across the country, there are sidelined projects that are essential to America's cities and our transportation network, and leveraging a FASTLANE grant from the Build America Bureau can move many of these projects forward," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "FASTLANE grants give us an opportunity to identify and invest strategically in those projects that are critical to keeping our nation's economic engine running."

In the most recent announcement of FASTLANE grants in September, the department announced the selection of eighteen projects to receive $759 million. The deadline for submitting applications is Dec. 15. For more information, visit www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/FASTLANEgrants.

Federal regulators are in the process of reviewing permits for a proposed $4.5 billion container shipping terminal to be built by the states of Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah River. Officials hope to have the terminal operating in a decade. The project includes a 2-mile wharf to support up to eight ships simultaneously. It would also include a four-lane divided highway between the terminal and U.S. 17, rail links to both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern rail lines and a new rail bridge across the Savannah River. The Jasper Ocean Terminal board estimates $15 million will be spent on studies required for terminal permits. More information is available at www.JasperOceanTerminalEIS.com.

Officials for the St. Louis Cardinals announced a $220 million expansion to Ballpark Village, the mixed-use district adjacent to Busch Stadium.  Phase two of the Ballpark Village project is expected to begin the second half of 2017 and be completed by 2019. The proposed 550,000-square-foot development will include a 29-story apartment tower, an office building and entertainment, retail and restaurant space. The new phase is more than five times the scale of phase one, said officials. The project is funded in part through a transportation development district sales tax.

Chicago Board of Education members announced plans for $840 million in capital projects and authorized the sale of $1 billion in bonds. The board approved an initial capital program of $338 million for fiscal 2017 and details on the additional projects have not yet been released. The new budget will be considered at the board's meeting on Dec. 7.

University of Washington officials released the draft for the university's 2018 master plan update, which calls for 20 percent growth over 10 years. The plan identifies 85 potential development sites on the main campus and looks to add 6 million square feet of space in the next decade. The plan also examines proposals for a pedestrian network, new open space, and improved bicycle network and parking. View the master plan here.

Phoenix City Council members approved a $950 million project to improve the Sky Harbor International Airport. Plans call for a new concourse at Terminal Four and a two-mile extension of the Sky Train to the rental car facility.  The new concourse could provide up to eight new gates. Airport officials intend to fund $700 million of the project with charges paid by passengers and businesses. Construction is expected to start in 2017.

Illinois Tollway officials are reviewing the 2017 tentative budget which includes $915.1 million in funding for Move Illinois projects. Move Illinois projects include $374.5 million for work on the new Illinois Route 390 Tollway and planning for the new Interstate 490 Tollway. A $163.5 million project to add SmartRoad technology and other improvements to the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) is also planned. Tollway officials said more than 75 percent of revenue in the tentative budget is allocated to support infrastructure, including $639 million for capital investments and $336 million for maintenance and operations. Details of the budget are available for review here.

Beaver Creek-Grayling Township Utility Authority officials in Michigan announced a $7.3 million water project. The project is funded through a $3.2 million grant from the U.S Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and a $4.1 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. The funds will be used to construct water and wastewater facilities on the 4 Mile Road corridor. The project includes drilling water wells, installing a 750,000-gallon water tank and building a wastewater facility on land secured from the state of Michigan.

San Diego City Council members voted unanimously to approve a $3 billion plan to recycle wastewater into drinking water. The project will require the construction of water reclamation facilities, the creation of pipelines to deliver the water to area reservoirs and a way to divert runoff to those new plants. Recycled water will be purified and mixed with water from traditional sources. The fully implemented Pure Water San Diego plan will create 83 million gallons of drinking water per day.

Louisiana officials are updating the coastal master plan with a 2017 rewrite. The state plans to build coastal restoration and storm surge protection projects. Projects planned for the next 15 years will cost about $10.7 billion. Initially, project funding will come from a BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement that includes $5 billion for a natural resource damage assessment, about $872 million for restoration projects and $1.2 billion to rebuild the barrier islands and build sediment diversions. Some additional funds will come from offshore oil revenue and state mineral revenues. The 50-year plan is expected to cost at least $50 billion.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials are moving forward on two major transit projects, a new rail line connecting Plano and DFW Airport and a new downtown subway. The new Cotton Belt line will run from Plano, Texas, to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The new line and the subway, known as D2, are both dependent on federal grants and loans to move forward. The Cotton Belt line is projected to be complete by 2022 and the D2 subway line project by 2024. Each of the projects is expected to cost about $1 billion.

A proposed transit-oriented development is gaining public support in Hammond, Ind. Northwest Indiana Redevelopment Authority officials recently presented plans for the $615 million West Lake project to residents. The project would include two stations and a maintenance facility in Hammond. Final designs are expected in the spring. Construction on the project is expected to begin by 2020 and be operational in 2022. More information is available at westlaketod.civicpage.com.