US House subcommittee allots $18.4M for seven NMI transportation projects

The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development included seven transportation projects totaling $18.4 million for the Marianas that Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) requested in its fiscal year 2023 spending bill.

Sablan said in his e-kilili newsletter over the weekend that the subcommittee approved Thursday a spending legislation that includes $10 million for the Department of Public Works for four road projects and $8.4 million for the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority for three transit projects.

He said the four DPW road projects are $2 million for the Rota Route 10 Drainage Improvements and Road Overlay, $2 million for the Tinian Route 205 Road and Drainage Improvements, $2 million for the Saipan Route 302 Improvements, and $4 million for the Saipan Route 36 Phase 1 Construction.

The three OTA projects are $4.5 million for 187 bus stop shelters along the Saipan Public Transit Fixed Route, $3 million for a covered bus parking facility, and $900,000 for bus transfer stations at Northern Marianas College, Paseo de Marianas in Garapan and Kagman.

Sablan said the spending bill now goes to the full Appropriations Committee for approval.