Secretary LaHood announces funding for over 50 transportation projects
Written by jrood
Slide 1 One year to the day after President Obama signed the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will announce Recovery Act awards to states, tribal governments, cities, counties and transit agencies across the country to fund 51 innovative transportation projects.
The TIGER (Transportation
Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant Program was
included in the Recovery Act to spur a national competition for innovative,
multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that promise
significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area,
a region or the nation. Projects funded with the $1.5 billion allocated in the
Recovery Act include improvements to roads, bridges, rail, ports, transit and
intermodal facilities.
In an overwhelming show of
demand for the program, the U.S. Department of Transportation was flooded with
more than 1,400 applications from all 50 states, territories and the District
of Columbia requesting funding for almost $60 billion worth of projects – 40
times the amount available through the program.
Awardees were selected
based on their contribution to economic competitiveness of the nation,
improving safety and the condition of the existing transportation system,
increasing quality of life, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrating
strong collaboration among a broad range of participants, including the private
sector.
Projects were funded in
large cities as well as rural and tribal communities across the country and
were selected based on merit. Selected projects represent some of the most
innovative projects as well as multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional projects that
are often overlooked by the existing funding system. The winning TIGER projects
highlighted the diversity of transportation needs throughout the U.S. from
grand Moynihan Station in New York City, which will carry millions of train and
subway riders each year to "the most beautiful drive in America" – Wyoming’s
Beartooth Highway – the gateway to Yellowstone National Park. They ranged from
major billion dollar freight rail corridors in the Midwest and South, to bridge
repairs in Oklahoma and South Carolina to port projects in Maine and Hawaii.
TIGER funds will also help
construct the Union Passenger Terminal/Loyola Streetcar Loop in New Orleans,
make safety improvements to a key highway in New Mexico Najavo country and spur
economic growth in Appalachia through the Appalachian Regional Short Line Rail
Project and the Gateway Project.
The U.S. Department of
Transportation required rigorous economic justifications for projects more than
$100 million and will require all recipients to report on their activities on a
routine basis.
Grant winners include:
•Crescent
Corridor Intermodal Freight Rail Project, Tenn., Ala. $105,000,000 •CREATE
Program Projects, Ill. $100,000,000
• National
Gateway Freight Rail Corridor, Ohio, Pa., W.Va., Md. $98,000,000 • Moynihan
Station, Phase 1 N.Y. $ 83,000,000
• Tucson
Modern Streetcar, Ariz. $ 63,000,000
• Fitchburg
Commuter Rail Extension & Wachusett Station, Mass, $55,500,000 • New
Orleans Streetcar – Union Passenger Terminal/Loyola Loop, La. $45,000,000
• Saint Paul
Union Depot Multi-Modal Transit and Transportation Hub, Minn. $35,000,000
• Alameda
Corridor East: Colton Crossing, Calif. $33,800,000
• M1/Woodward
Avenue Light Rail Project, Mich. $ 25,000,000
• Portland’s
Innovation Quadrant – SW Moody St. & Streetcar Reconstruction, Ore. $23,203,988
• Downtown
Dallas Streetcar, Texas. $23,000,000
• Normal
Multimodal Transportation Center, Ill. $ 22,000,000 Park
• Revere
Transit Facility & Streetscape Mass. $20,000,000
• Fast Track
New Bedford, Mass. $20,000,000
• Port of
Gulfport Rail Improvements, Miss. $20,000,000
• Kent
Central Gateway Multimodal Transit Facility, Ohio. $20,000,000
• Appalachian
Regional Short Line Rail Project, Ken., W.Va., Tenn. $17,551,028
• Ames
Intermodal Facility, Iowa. $8,463,000
• The
Southwestern Illinois Intermodal Freight Transportation Hub, Ill. $6,000,000
• Millwork
District Multimodal Improvements, Iowa. $5,600,000
