MDOT Funding Opportunities: Applications Now Open
By: John LaMacchia, February 19, 2025

Local Bridge Program:

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is pleased to announce the solicitation of applications for candidate projects for the Local Bridge Program. Selected projects will be funded during the 2028 fiscal year (FY). Do not submit projects which cannot be committed to construction within FY 2028. The applications can be submitted by the local agency owner or their consultant. All bridge applications submitted in previous years that have not been selected for funding have been discarded. There is a limit of 3 applications from any one local agency. An agency must be able to fund all applications submitted for FY 2028 in that fiscal year.

The Local Bridge Program budget is estimated at $50 million for FY 2028. This amount may be subject to revisions. We are asking the County Road Association of Michigan and the Michigan Municipal League to distribute this notice to their member agencies.

All applications are to be electronically submitted by Tuesday, April 1st, 2025.

The Call for Projects letter, Exhibits 1-3 and Bridge Cost Estimating Worksheet are posted on the website at Bridge Program (michigan.gov).

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Keith Cooper, Bridge Program Manager, at 517-331-1395 or at [email protected].

Highway Safety Improvement, Highway Safety Improvement Systemic, and High-Risk Rural Road Program:

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is pleased to announce the solicitation of applications for candidate projects for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Local Safety Program encompassing the Highway Safety Improvement (HSIP), Highway Safety Improvement (HSIP) Systemic, and High-Risk Rural Road (HRRR) programs. The FY 2027 federal budget apportioned for this program is estimated to be $21,098,000:

The Call for Projects Letter is attached and posted on the website Local Agency Program, under the Special Funding Program section. Refer to the following Exhibits for information regarding eligibility and submitting candidate Safety Project Applications. FY2027_Exhibits

Since 2024, the State of Michigan has been subject to a new Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Rule. It is likely the State will be subject to the rule for the foreseeable future. Therefore, a VRU financial goal of $3,000,000 is included in Exhibit 2. For more information regarding VRU projects, please refer to the information provided in Exhibits 2 and 5.

Federal safety funds shall not exceed $1,500,000 per Local Agency for the fiscal year. Any non-selected HRRR projects will be automatically considered for general FY 2027 HSIP safety funds. Selected projects are to be obligated in FY 2027.

All applications must be submitted electronically by 11:59pm on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Applications must be sent to [email protected].

A list of all submitted projects will be posted on the MDOT Local Agency Program (LAP) Special Funding Program website by Friday, May 23, 2025. Local Agencies are responsible for verifying that their projects have been received and are on the list and must notify MDOT of any discrepancies no later than Friday, June 6, 2025.

If you have any questions, please contact Jackie Pethers, Local Agency Programs Safety Engineer, at 517-643-6189 or at [email protected].

John LaMacchia is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0303.