U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $10 Million TIGER Grant for the Truck-to-Rail and Rail-to-Water Improvements in Jeffersonville
Projects Target Future Needs in Rural and Urban Communities Nationwide
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. – Maritime Administrator Paul ‘Chip’ Jaenichen today announced that the Department of Transportation will provide $10 million for the Truck-to-Rail and Rail-to-Water Improvement project at the Port of Indiana – Jeffersonville. The project is one of 39 federally-funded transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive a total of $500 million under the Department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) 2015 program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced project selections for this round of TIGER grants on October 29.
The Department received 627 eligible applications from 50 states and several U.S. territories, including Tribal governments, requesting 20 times the $500 million available for the program, or $10.1 billion for needed transportation projects.
“Transportation is always about the future. If we're just fixing today's problems, we'll fall further and further behind. We already know that a growing population and increasing freight traffic will require our system to do more," said Secretary Foxx. “In this round of TIGER, we selected projects that focus on where the country’s transportation infrastructure needs to be in the future; ever safer, ever more innovative, and ever more targeted to open the floodgates of opportunity across America.”
The TIGER funds will be used to create a multi-modal facility at the Port of Indiana - Jeffersonville that connects water, road and rail infrastructure to increase freight mobility and accommodate projected freight demands. The project will improve efficiency through the construction of a rail line along the port’s waterfront – allowing uninterrupted transfer of cargo from rail to barge at the port for the first time. The project also includes a railway extension to allow rail carriers to deliver cargo directly to the port reducing traffic congestion as well as wear and tear on adjacent roadways. The funding provided today, as well as the release earlier this month of the draft National Freight Strategic Plan available here, demonstrates the Obama Administration’s commitment to increasing and improving the movement of freight, while reducing costs and increasing economic competitiveness.
With this latest round of funding, TIGER continues to invest in transformative projects that will provide significant and measurable improvements over existing conditions. The awards recognize projects nationwide that will advance key transportation goals such as safety, innovation, and opportunity.
“The awarding of this TIGER Grant underscores the port’s goal of increasing maritime commerce through domestic barge service,” said Administrator Jaenichen. “This is a critical project that will kick this Midwestern economic engine into high gear.”
This is the seventh TIGER round since 2009, bringing the total grant amount to $4.6 billion provided to 381 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 134 projects to support rural and tribal communities. Demand for the program has been overwhelming; to date the Department of Transportation has received more than 6,700 applications requesting more than $134 billion for transportation projects across the country.
The GROW AMERICA Act, the Administration’s surface transportation legislative proposal, would keep TIGER roaring with $7.5 billion over six years for future TIGER grants.
Click here for additional information on individual TIGER grants.
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