MINNEAPOLIS — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Minnesota Thursday morning, his fourth stop on his six-state tour this week to see how cities are spending federal infrastructure money.
Buttigieg saw how $12 million in federal funding will be used to add bus lanes and turn lanes on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
The money will also go towards removing one lane of traffic and adding new pavement so people can get around better and help this neighborhood rebuild.
"Part of how you support small businesses is to make sure people can circulate, their employees, their customers. The vibrancy of any neighborhood largely depends on the mobility of the people who live there,” Buttigieg said.
He added that residents in the neighborhood had seen a lot these past few years, between the pandemic and the civil unrest after the death of George Floyd. Buttigieg said those were some of the reasons why this project was one of 166 nationwide that were hand chosen to receive federal funding.
"There were $13 billion in applications that came in — almost a thousand applications — for $2 billion in funding," Buttigieg said. "The ones that were successful, the successful applications, including this one, were the ones that really distinguished themselves in terms of the benefits to safety to climate to equity."
Buttigieg was also in Sandusky, Ohio Thursday, and on Friday, he will be in New Hampshire to see how they're spending the federal infrastructure money. Buttigieg also made a stop at the Minnesota State Fair, where he was given a tour of the fair by Minnesota senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
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