Intermodal rail bags TIGER II grants
Several ports and short-line railroads have won a share of the $600 million TIGER II discretionary grants program for infrastructure investments, according to unofficial announcements from lawmakers and port authorities.
The Port of Miami said it received $22 million to restore and upgrade intermodal rail service between the port and the Florida East Coast rail yard in Hialeah. Rail service linking the port with the Hialeah Rail was suspended in 2005 after the rail bridge to the port was damaged during Hurricane Wilma. FEC and the Florida Department of Transportation are the port's project partners.
The Port of Los Angeles also was awarded $16 million to improve rail infrastructure connecting to the Alameda Corridor, the main rail express route from the waterfront to yards 20 miles outside the city, announced Rep. Laura Richardson, a Democrat who represents California's 37th congressional district.
The federal grant will help construct an intermodal yard adjacent to the West Basin Container Terminal connecting on-dock rail yards there with the Alameda Corridor, which carries about 15 percent of the nation's international container traffic. The rail yard will support a short-line that serves the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, as well as both Class I railroads. Port officials estimate the project will reduce about 2,300 daily truck trips on Route 710 and help ease congestion on city streets. The total project is budgeted for $125 million, with $45 million to $50 million to be contributed by the Port of Los Angeles, another $45 million from a state bond initiative and the rest from local governments.
The Department of Transportation is scheduled to announce today the full list of projects selected to receive funding. It began notifying members of Congress late last week about project winners in their districts and several of them, or local recipients, have issued press releases trumpeting the awards.
Congress included the TIGER II program in the Transportation Department's 2010 appropriation as a follow on to the original $1.5 billion Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program that was included in the economic stimulus legislation. The program was designed as a competitive process for innovative, multijurisdictional projects of regional or national significance. It has been praised for applying more cost-benefit criteria to the selection process than normal state aid funding formulas or legislative earmarks. The popularity of the first TIGER program outstripped the available money dispensed to 51 projects, with more than 1,400 applicants seeking $60 billion.
Nearly $19 billion in bids were submitted for the TIGER II grants.
Eligible applicants for TIGER II funds included states, local governments, port authorities, transit agencies and metropolitan planning organizations. Applicants increased their chances of winning by demonstrating significant project funding contributions from non-federal sources. Projects were selected based on their ability to repair infrastructure to good condition, contribute to economic competitiveness, foster livability, and reduce environmental impacts, the DOT said.
Among TIGER II funding winners:
' The Port of Providence, R.I., was awarded $10.5 million to purchase and install two harbor cranes for bulk cargo and container operations, Rep. Patrick Kennedy announced. The cranes will replace 30-year-old rented cranes that have been prone to breakdowns and been out of service for prolonged period.
' U.S. Rep. John Tanner announced the Northwest Tennessee Port and Industrial Park would receive a $13 million grant to finish construction. When completed, the port will bring up to 2,300 jobs to the region, according to analysis from the Business and Economic Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
The port, on the Mississippi River at Cates Landing in Lake County, is a slackwater harbor, where a steady level of still water makes for easier cargo loading and unloading than in parts of the river with fast-moving currents.
' Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, disclosed that the DOT has awarded more than $10.5 million to the Maine Department of Transportation to repair and improve the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway line in Aroostock and northern Penobscot counties. The funding will be used for the Aroostook Railroad Preservation and Rehabilitation Project, which seeks to replace railroad ties, rail sections and clear drainage ditches to restore the freight rail routes serving northern Maine. The state government is negotiating with MMA to acquire 233 miles of the rail line, which MMA seeks to abandon. In June, Maine voters approved a $7 million bond package to purchase the rail lines. However, sections of the existing track are in poor condition and require significant repair.
' The Tower 55 project that would separate a rail-on-rail grade crossing in Fort Worth, Texas, is to receive $34 million, according to Mayor Mike Moncrief's Web site. The site is one of the busiest rail intersections in the nation, with about 100 freight and passenger trains crossing daily. Total project cost is estimated at $91.2 million. The balance of the cost will be covered by a number of stakeholders involved with the project. The City of Fort Worth has pledged $1 million toward the improvements. The North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority have coordinated to contribute $2.5 million in funding to advance engineering and design work, and BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have committed a combined $51.2 million — more than half the total cost.
' Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said the City of Barrington will get $2.8 million to fund the planning, design and engineering of a highway underpass on the Eastern Joliet & Elgin Railway, now owned by Canadian National. The rail-highway intersection on Rt. 14 is used by about 40,000 commuters per day.
' The Minot Bypass Project in North Dakota will receive $14.1 million, according to Sen. Kent Conrad's office. The money will be used to reconstruct an intersection and build a grade separation over BNSF Railway's mainline and service tracks. The improvement is part of a larger project to create a rail bypass around the city of Minot and improve service to an intermodal facility and oil transfer terminal.
' The DOT awarded $13.5 million to the Port of Coos Bay to repair the shuttered Coos Bay rail line, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon said. The grant will be matched by $1 million by the port, which acquired the rail line from the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad in a sale forced by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. The Central Oregon and Pacific closed the rail line in 2007 because of safety concerns. The improvements on the 100-mile line between Eugene and Coos Bay will allow trains to operate from 25 to 40 mph, instead of 10 mph, on certain sections and make it possible to use one crew instead of two. The rail line could be reopened by next spring.
' Rep. Chris Carney of Pennsylvania's 10th district announced that the Susquehanna Economic Development Association Council of Governments (SEDA-COG) Joint Rail Authority was been awarded $10 million to improve rail and transportation corridors to meet demands of the local shale industry. The plan calls for 9.9 miles of new tracks for short-line railroads, as well as a new two-lane road that will provide direct access from Interstate 180 to the Williamsport Regional Airport.
Leslie Blakey, executive director of the Coalition for America's Gateways & Trade Corridors, said preliminary online legwork by her staff has determined that a lot of bridge projects are on the list of TIGER II grants. The fact than many bridges carry substantial freight traffic could have factored into the justification for the awards, she speculated.
One such project is located in Seattle. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington announced that King County will receive $34 million to help build a replacement for the South Park Bridge, which was closed last summer for safety reasons. The bridge connected a large manufacturing and industrial area to downtown Seattle, the Port of Seattle and Sea-Tac airport, carrying nearly 10 million tons of cargo per year. The closure of the structure has forced freight traffic onto congested roads in the Seattle area.
Rep. Chellie Pingree also announced that Maine and New Hampshire will get $20 million to replace the aging Memorial Bridge connecting Kittery and Portsmouth, N.H. ' Eric Kulisch
