DOT awards $730 million in TIGER grants

DOT awards $730 million in TIGER grants    Freight projects were among the big beneficiaries of $1.5 billion in discretionary grants unveiled Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
   The department awarded money to 51 projects, 22 of which involved a large freight component. The freight-related funding totaled $730 million, including $105 million for the Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor rail corridor improvement program, $100 million for the CREATE freight rail congestion relief-project in Chicago, and $98 million for the CSX railroad's National Gateway initiative.
   The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program was included in the $787 billion stimulus legislation last year as a merit-based competition to reward innovative, multimodal and multijurisdictional transportation projects with wide economic or environmental impact.
   The DOT received about 1,400 applications requesting funding for almost $60 billion worth of projects. Transportation policy reformers view the TIGER program as a model for future funding allocations based on setting priorities rather than simply donating highway trust fund money to states using an equity-based formula.
   'This program is a step in the right direction toward accomplishing the vision I laid out in the Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 — which would set national goals to guide our transportation funding decisions,' Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said in a statement. 'A national focus on improving multimodal, regional projects will make the transportation of passengers and freight more seamless throughout corridors traversing several states, and will in turn improve the free flow of goods to and from American businesses and boost our economy.'
   The Norfolk Southern requested $300 million in TIGER grant funds, but said the money will enable it to move ahead with several construction projects on the Crescent Corridor, a $2.5 billion plan to add passing tracks, double-stack clearances, improved signaling and other features to improve speed and capacity on rail network between Louisiana and New Jersey.
   Other projects with freight or trade-related components that received TIGER grants include:
   ' U.S.-395 North Spokane Corridor in Washington, $35 million.
   ' Alameda Corridor East, $33.8 million for a grade separation in Colton, Calif.
   ' California Green Trade Corridor/Marine Highway Project, $30 million for short-sea shipping.
   ' Black River Bridge Replacement on Interstate 94 in Port Huron, Mich., $30 million towards the $533 million project to improve a key access road to the Blue Water Bridge, the second-busiest truck crossing on the U.S.-Canada border.
   ' Hawaii Department of Transportation, $24.5 million to reconstruct a container pier at Honolulu Harbor.
   ' Interchange near the Otay Mesa, Calif., port of entry, $20.2 million.
   ' Port of Gulfport, Miss., rail improvements, $20 million.
   ' Appalachian Regional Short Line Rail Project, $17.5 million.
   ' Revitalizing Maine's ports, $14 million
   ' Ames, Iowa, intermodal facility improvements, $8.5 million.
   ' Southwestern Illinois Intermodal Freight Transportation Hub, $6 million.

LaHood

   'We are particularly pleased to see nine TIGER grants awarded to states for freight and intermodal improvements,' said Larry 'Butch' Brown, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. 'These investments will unclog bottlenecks that delay freight shipments, reconstruct ports, improve rail lines — producing long-term economic benefits well beyond the initial construction work.'
   'TIGER grants will tackle the kind of major transportation projects that have been difficult to build under other funding programs,' Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on the one-year anniversary of the stimulus program. 'This will help us meet the 21st century challenges of improving the environment, making our communities more livable and enhancing safety, all while creating jobs and growing the economy.'
   A complete list awardees and details about the project is available here ' Eric Kulisch