Road, Bridge Projects Dominate DOT TIGER Grants

Road and bridge projects received nearly half of the $511 million awarded through the Department of Transportation’s third round of TIGER grants, leaving port and rail-related projects with about 22 percent of the funding.

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants to 46 local and state governments fall far short of the $14.1 billion requested through 828 applications.

"The overwhelming demand for these grants clearly shows that communities across the country can’t afford to wait any long for Congress to put American to work building the transportation projects that are critical to our economic future,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

He said work already had begun on 33 planning projects while 58 capital projects have begun through the funding of the last rounds of the TIGER program. An additional 13 projects are expected to break ground over the next six months.

About 40 percent, or roughly $204.4 million, was awarded to commuter transportation projects, such as multimodal transit center in San Antonio, Texas, and improved connections to airports.

Some of the major freight-related project awards include:

- The Port of Long Beach received $17 million toward a $64.5 million project to relieve a chokepoint at the Ocean Boulevard crossing. The project will aid the port in moving more than 35 percent of shipments via on-dock rail by 2035.

- The Port of Jacksonville received $10 million of the $25 million it requested for an intermodal rail terminal. The port needs $45 million to build the intermodal terminal, which will would serve a container terminal operated by TraPac, an MOL subsidiary, and support Hanjin’s yet-to-be-built facility.

- The Port of New Orleans received $16.7 million toward the construction of a 12-acre freight rail intermodal terminal and the rebuilding of a four-acre storage yard used for ultra-heavy project cargo. The expansion and reconstruction work is expected to cost $26.1 million.

- The Pennslyvania Department of Transportation will use the $15 million in funding it received to build a $60.5 million intermodal facility in the Harrisburg area. The facility site is on the Crescent Corridor, a major rail route connecting to cities in 12 states, including Chicago, Memphis and Atlanta.