DOT Grants Target Freight Projects
Rural infrastructure projects aimed at improving freight connectivity were among the recipients of U.S. Department of Transportation grants announced July 29.
The department awarded $6.1 million to the Little Rock Port Authority for an expansion project, $17.7 million to Scott County, Minnesota, for its freight mobility project along U.S. 169, and $9.7 million to Horry County in South Carolina for a freight rail project titled, “Moving the Carolinas Forward.”
The three projects were part of the eighth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants at DOT, which doled out $500 million to 40 communities.
RELATED: Nearly 600 applications submitted for TIGER grants
Other grant winners included the Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, $19 million; the Utah Transit Authority, $20 million; and Port of Everett in Washington, $10 million.
“For the eighth year running, TIGER will inject critical infrastructure dollars into communities across the country,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. “This unique program rewards innovative thinking and collaborative solutions to difficult and sometimes dangerous transportation problems. A great TIGER program doesn’t just improve transportation; it expands economic opportunity and transforms a community.”
Since its inception in 2009, the grant program has allocated $5.1 billion to 421 projects. States and municipalities use TIGER funds to finance projects ranging from highway expansions to port infrastructure as a way to promote commerce and livability.
