Duluth Project Receives TIGER Funds
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for the Duluth Intermodal project one of 52 transportation projects in 37 states that will receive a total of approximately $474 million from the grant program.
The TIGER funds will be used to rehabilitate rebuild and expand a 28-acre general cargo dock at the Port of Duluth-Superior connecting water road and rail infrastructure to increase freight capacity and efficiency. The Duluth Intermodal project will improve freight mobility by refurbishing a dock that is not structurally sound in order to support heavy cargo moved through the Great Lakes. The funding provided demonstrates the Obama Administration’s commitment to increasing and improving the movement of freight reducing costs and increasing economic competitiveness in the Great Lakes region.
“[The funds] answer President Obama’s call for a stronger transportation system for future generations by repairing existing roads and bridges connecting people to new jobs and opportunities and contributing to our nation’s economic growth” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
The TIGER program offers one of the only federal funding possibilities for large multimodal projects that often are not suitable for other federal funding sources. These federal funds leverage money from private sector partners states local governments metropolitan planning organizations and transit agencies. The 2013 TIGER round alone supports $1.8 billion in overall project investments.
In March 2013 the President signed the FY 2013 Appropriations Act which after sequestration provided approximately $474 million for Department of Transportation national infrastructure investments. Like the first four rounds TIGER 2013 grants are for capital investments in infrastructure and are awarded on a competitive basis based on the published selection criteria. This is the fifth round of TIGER funding.
