Mississippi State University (MSU) in the US is set to receive a federal transportation grant for the Hightower Road project, which will involve the development of an approximately two-mile multimodal corridor.

The 2017 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant amounting to $7m was approved by the US Department of Transportation.

The project, which was recommended by US Senator Thad Cochran in October last year in a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was also backed by Senator Roger Wicker.

Cochran said: “Mississippi State proposed this multimodal project to help alleviate gridlock and improve safety for students, faculty, visitors, and Starkville residents.

“I’m pleased that the Department of Transportation will invest in this project, which will improve the overall quality of life for the Starkville and Oktibbeha County community.”

“The Hightower Road project is crucial, not only to alleviating current traffic issues, but in the future growth and development of our Starkville campus.”

Mississippi State will use the grant to develop the Hightower Road Corridor Project, a north-south passage that will incorporate sidewalks, bike lanes, transit shelters, traffic signal improvements, as well as street lighting on the eastern perimeter of the university campus.

MSU president Mark Keenum said: “The Hightower Road project is crucial, not only to alleviating current traffic issues, but in the future growth and development of our Starkville campus.”

Awarded on a competitive and matching fund basis, TIGER grants are directed toward projects that are expected to have a significant economic impact.

In July last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill recommending $550m for these grants in FY2018, representing $50m more than the FY2017 funding level.