The City of North Pole will likely get about $750,000 in government money as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s plan to make communities across the state more resistant to major weather events.
These funds come from the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act and are given out through a program called PROJECT, which stands for Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation.
Coastal places like Bristol Bay, Koyuk, Hooper Bay, and Unalaska want to get millions as part of the same effort. This will bring the total amount of money for the 49th state to over $50 million.
The grant money will be used to pay for the City of North Pole Alaska Drainage Improvement Project in the interior.
Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a press release that the cash was being given that “Rural Alaska’s communities are on the front lines of climate change and are facing devastating effects from extreme weather events.” We need to make our neighborhoods stronger so they can handle these events that are happening more often.
Senator Dan Sullivan, on the other hand, said, “The widespread destruction of Typhoon Merbok showed us that our rural communities need to be stronger in the face of extreme weather events that are common in Alaska.”
“The grants announced this week will help improve the transportation systems of many towns across the state. This will also make sure that these towns are better prepared to protect Alaskans during the next storm, flood, or earthquake,” he said.
