The Department of Transportation recently awarded Mount Vernon a $12.5 million grant to install 78 electric vehicle charging ports downtown at the Mount Vernon Library Commons — slated to be the largest public EV charging center in the country.

This is another exciting development thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for residents of Northwest Washington! And the list just keeps growing: as of November 2023, $7.9 billion has been invested with 490 projects identified for funding in Washington state.

This latest grant is part of the Department of Transportation's Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program, and will help strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure nationwide. Making electric vehicle charging easier will make these vehicles more appealing to consumers, and ultimately help cut down on fossil fuel emissions.

I am a strong supporter of the Mount Vernon Library Commons project, which will feature a combined library, community center and parking structure that will house the EV charging center — and this effort has been a long time coming.

Last May, I sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration in support of the grant application, then requested a $3 million earmark in the 2024 spending bill to bolster construction costs for the Mount Vernon Library Commons project. I am excited to bring this project to our community soon.

Rick