TIGER V grants announced for Atlanta Beltline, Connecticut rail station

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) V grants were announced yesterday for a portion of Atlanta's proposed Beltline project and a Connecticut rail station.

The city of Atlanta will receive an $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to develop 2.5 miles of the Atlanta Beltline in the southwest corridor, according to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

The grant is a "tremendous step forward" in the Beltline corridor, a former freight-rail line that has been unused for the past 30 years, said Reed in a press release. The project will include construction of shared-use trails, trailheads and access points, and preservation of the future streetcar transit corridor.

"The Atlanta Beltline is one of the most transformative projects ever undertaken in our city's history," said Reed.

The TIGER V grant will cover about 42 percent of the project's $43 million cost.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut Department of Transportation will receive a $10 million grant to construct a second platform at the New Haven State Street Station to ease arrival of trains on the planned New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line.

Because of the station's current limited track configurations, new trains arriving on the line would have to cross over two to three main Northeast Corridor tracks to reach the existing platform. Adding a second platform will eliminate those crossover movements, minimizing delays on the Northeast Corridor, according to a press release issued by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).