DOT announces transportation grants

TIGER funding will go to 72 projects, 13 percent of which are in the maritime sector.    Seventy two projects will split nearly $600 million in federal transportation grants, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday. The highly competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program is one of the few avenues for non-highway infrastructure to receive federal support. 
   More than $74 million, or 13 percent of the total, was directed at maritime projects. As previously reported, the South Carolina Ports Authority received $10.8 million to retrofit and rehabilitate the Wando Welch container terminal to handle the latest generation of big ships, and the Virginia Port Authority received $15 million to build a new intermodal gate complex at one of its terminals.
   The Port of Seattle also secured $20 million for its Terminal 46 modernization project. Other winners include Port Newark Container Terminal in New Jersey ($14.8 million for access and other improvements), and Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District ($10 million to support construction of new berths, a barge fleeting area and other upgrades for increased bulk shipping).
   The American Association of Port Authorities has argued for years that ports and maritime-related projects should capture 25 percent of TIGER grant funding.
   The DOT whittled down the TIGER finalists from 797 applications that sought a combined $9 billion in aid in the sixth round of funding since the program was created in 2009 as part of a massive stimulus measure. Since 2009, the DOT has committed $4.1 billion to projects that can create jobs, economic growth, improve safety and efficiency, reduce pollution and create communities less dependent on cars. The money in the current round will help build or upgrade highways, bridges, transit systems, ports and railroads.
  Other projects with a freight focus that received TIGER grants include:

• $1.1 million for the city of Baltimore to develop plans for replacing the aging Hanover Street Bridge that connects the city to the Port of Baltimore.
• $8.1 million to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the New England Central Railroad Freight Rail Project, which will upgrade 55 miles of track to carry heavier rail cars.
• $2.8 million for the District of Columbia to prepare for replacement of a CSX-owned bridge across the Potomac to Virginia, part of CSX’s National Gateway Initiative to double stack its mid-Atlantic intermodal corridor.
• $5.8 million for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to improve 52 miles of track to handle heavier railcars.

   The Obama administration’s GROW America proposal to reauthorize the surface transportation programs would double annual TIGER funding by providing $5 billion over four years. Congress punted on a multi-year transportation bill to replace the one that expires Sept. 30, opting instead to extend the existing funding plan through next May. A major area of disagreement is how to raise money for the liquidity-challenged Highway Trust Fund.