Hawai‘i To Receive $1.5 Million To Improve Waianuenue Avenue Bridge In Hilo, Protect It From Flooding, Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the State of Hawai‘i will receive $1.5 million in new federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to modernize the Waianuenue Avenue Bridge and protect it from flooding and earthquakes.

“This new federal funding will modernize the Waianuenue Avenue Bridge, making it safer for local families to use and get where they need to go,” said Senator Schatz, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing. “In addition to this funding, Hawai‘i is set to receive at least $2.8 billion from the new bipartisan infrastructure law to strengthen roads and bridges across the state.”

The modernized bridge will be designed to withstand earthquake forces and erosive forces of flood waters as established by current national standards. The $1.5 million grant is being funded through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments so they can rebuild in a way that reduces, or mitigates, future disaster losses in their communities.

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