MARAD Awards $580M Grants to Ports for Supply Chain Projects
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced $580 million in supply chain port grants for 31 projects across 15 states that incorporate a variety of multimodal improvements for the transportation of goods.
“America’s ports are essential to our nation’s supply chains,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Nov. 15. “With the investments we’re announcing today, made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law, we’re building on this good work and funding more projects that will expand capacity, improve efficiency, and facilitate the quicker movement of goods at ports in more than a dozen states.”
The funding comes from the maritime agency’s Port Infrastructure Development Program, which received $2.25 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to improve the nation’s port infrastructure. Grants pay for planning, capital projects and management assistance to increase cargo capacity and efficiency.
Among the grants in this latest round is $11.2 million to help pay for improvements to the Ports of Indiana for work at the Mount Vernon Port along the Ohio River.
Port Houston is proud to announce the award of $25 million in grant funding received from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).
Read more here: https://t.co/eOU9tFPGBO#Grant #Funding #Transportation pic.twitter.com/VEJpwecycy — Port Houston (@Port_Houston) November 20, 2024
“This is the largest federal grant in Ports of Indiana history and it will have far-reaching impacts throughout the Southwest Indiana economy,” said Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock. “Once completed, this project could double our port’s rail capacity and create a major transload hub that connects throughout the U.S. on four Class I railroads.”
The federal dollars will contribute to construction of a rail yard and transload facility. There also will be truck marshaling areas, 20,000 total feet of new rail track, a new truck entrance to the port, five new rail-truck transload zones, acres of paved roads, and a multipurpose container/cargo storage yard. Other improvements on the agenda are installation of a new truck scale and scale house, facility lighting and security improvements.
Eric Powell, port communications director, told Transport Topics that companies in southwest Indiana and northwest Kentucky have been asking for expanded transload options at the port for years.
“A major benefit for truckers will be the new port entrance off the existing four-lane Indiana State Road 62. It will make sense for some truck pickups/deliveries to continue utilizing the existing port entrance, but congestion should decrease on the main entrance on Port Road,” Powell said. “Our transload and rail yard project should result in an increase of shorthaul, first-mile/last-mile trucking opportunities for delivery of cargo that moved via longhaul rail.”
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He added that the new Mount Vernon facility makes the area a more attractive option for major industry to establish or expand regional operations.
“The rail-truck transload and rail yard installation means the Mount Vernon port has an extremely attractive cache of logistics options: maritime, rail and truck, and all three will be efficiently linked with on-site transload capabilities. Attracting new business will be good for everyone, with trucking playing a vital role,” Powell said.
Elsewhere, an $8 million grant allocated to Crescent City in California will be spent to replace a deteriorating 1950s-era dock critical for intermodal transportation and seafood delivery. About 100 commercial fishing vessels rely on the dock, which handles over 9 million pounds of seafood annually. The project will rebuild the existing structure, widen the area to accommodate more trucks, and fund installation of hoists to assist with loading and unloading cargo.
“Citizens’ Dock is more than infrastructure — it’s a lifeline for our fishing community and a beacon for our local economy,” said Harry Adams, president of the Board Harbor Commissioners for the Crescent City Harbor District, of the facility.
Two grants were allocated for projects in Illinois. One $38.5 million award will fund construction of a 700-foot loading dock as well as conveyor and storage systems for soybean meal, soybean oil and soybean hulls at a barge terminal in Hennepin. Plus, a $9 million grant will go to a project in Hardin for a river terminal elevator venture. Plans include building two new storage bins, one each at a facility in Hardin and another in Jerseyville. Federal funds will also be allocated for road improvements near the Hardin terminal and replacement of a scale house.
Rhode Island’s Port of Davisville was awarded $11.2 million to relocate a port access roadway, entrance gate and port operation buildings. The project will also fund construction of new and larger upland cargo laydown areas with lighting, cameras, fencing, gates and other security features. The port, near the mouth of Narragansett Bay, ranks among the nation’s leading East Coast ports for autos and frozen seafood.
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