USDOT awards $500 million in TIGER VIII grants

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx late last week announced the recipients of $500 million in grants that will be awarded under the eighth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.

The funds will be awarded to projects in two U.S. territories, 32 states and 40 communities across the nation.

"For the eighth year running, TIGER will inject critical infrastructure dollars into communities across the country," said Foxx in a press release. "This unique program rewards innovative thinking and collaborative solutions to difficult and sometimes dangerous transportation problems."

Rail-related grants were awarded to:

• Little Rock Port Authority in Arkansas, $6,185,400, for improvements to the slackwater harbor area, including a new dock with direct dock-to-rail capability and added rail storage.

• Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, $15 million, to create a grade separation at the intersection of Rosecrans and Marquardt avenues from the BNSF Railway Co. mainline tracks in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The grade separation is part of a larger project to triple-track a 15-mile segment between L.A. and Fullerton, Calif. The tracks are part of a rail corridor that includes Metrolink and Amtrak service.

• San Bernardino Associated Governments, $8,678,312, to be used toward construction of the Redlands Passenger Rail project, which would connect cities in San Bernardino County to the existing San Bernardino Transit Center. The project includes upgrades to an existing rail corridor, such as replacing track and track bed, reconstruction or rehabilitation of existing bridges, construction of station platforms and a train layover facility, grade-crossing and pedestrian improvements, and acquisition of rail vehicles.

• Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), $6,321,688, to improve the 19th Street/Oakland BART station and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure between the station and Uptown area of Oakland, Calif.

• Delaware Transit Corp., $10 million, to replace the existing Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) station in Claymont, Del., with an expanded and redesigned Claymont Regional Transportation Center.

• Chicago Transit Authority, $25 million, for a project that will upgrade and enhance the existing Garfield Station on the Green Line of the Chicago L. the project also will refurbish the Alley L Station and restore a segment of 1892 historic track structure along Garfield Boulevard.

• Springfield, Ill., $14 million, to improve rail travel through Springfield along the Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed corridor by constructing two underpasses at Ash and Laurel streets.

• Natchez, Miss., $10 million, to rehabilitate and upgrade five railroad truss bridges along the Natchez Railway, replace a failing culvert and install new passive safety improvements at 20 grade crossings.

• Port of Portland, Ore., $7,329,000, to construct a grade separation over a marine terminal rail lead, and construct road, intersection and multimodal improvements to increase access to the National Highway System.

• Rhode Island Department of Transportation, $13.1 million, to construct a new passenger station on the existing Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter-rail line, which will reintroduce passenger-rail service to Pawtucket and Central Falls, and create a new intermodal connection between MBTA commuter-rail and local bus service.

• Horry County Government, S.C., $9,765,620, to fund a freight railroad rehabilitation project between Mullins, S.C., and Chadbourn, N.C. The project will replace more than 8 miles of existing rail, install more than 50,000 ties, surface 75 miles of track and upgrade more than 24 at-grade rail crossings.

• Utah Transit Authority, $20 million, to improve connectivity and access to its transit system.

• Port of Everett, Wash., $10 million, to modernize the port's South Terminal, including construction of rail sidings to increase onsite rail-car storage.