Competitive grant awards available to road, bridge, port, passenger rail and pedestrian facility projects follow last July's $1.4-billion distribution of formula PROTECT funding.
Gateway Development Commission is dividing civil works on the tunnel portion of the project from one contract into four to encourage more competitive bids.
The original price tag was $233 million, but last month the new estimate jumped to $264 million, with TxDOT citing supply chain issues and the impact of inflation on concrete and steel prices.