Foxx: TIGER Grants to Be Announced in September
Winners of the next round of the Department of Transportation’s infrastructure grants will be announced in mid-September, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Aug. 6.
Foxx indicated that several dozen projects will be splitting $600 million under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Act program. The announcement came during an online chat the secretary hosted urging people to press lawmakers to boost funding for transportation.
“I think the country needs to get a little noisier on this,” Foxx told online viewers.
Last year, 52 projects, ranging from freight connectivity and highway improvements to the expansion of ports and the electrification of buses, split $474 million in TIGER grants. One of the recipients, Atlanta’s BeltLine corridor trail expansion project, received $18 million.
Before adjourning for the August break, Senate funding leaders approved a $550 million allocation for the TIGER program. That was less than the Obama administration’s $1.25 billion request but more than the House’s $100 million proposal.
The competitive grant system is for cities and towns looking for federal dollars for infrastructure projects of national or regional significance. Since its inception in 2009, DOT has allocated more than $3 billion to help several hundred projects. Obama administration officials claim the TIGER program has enhanced livability and improved freight connectivity.
