Today, the Department of Transportation announced the awarding of $1.5 billion in Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. The money went to more than 50 projects in states ranging from Maine to Hawaii to South Carolina. So which states walked away with the biggest piece of pie? Here’s a rundown.
BIG WINNERS
CALIFORNIA: All in, the state will get$130 million, spread out between four projects. San Francisco’s Doyle Drive replacement gets the biggest chunk, or $46 million, while the Colton Crossing of the Alameda Corridor East (which will “eliminate the mainline at-grade rail crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway at Colton in San Bernardino County”) will receive $33.8 million. The California Green Trade Corridor/MarineHighway Project will get $30 million, and is described as follows:
The project is a collaborative effort of three regional ports in California to develop and use a marine highway system as an alternative to existing truck and rail infrastructure. The Port of Oakland along with the inland Ports of Stockton and West Sacramento have formed a partnership to provide freight service via barge, primarily for consumer goods moving by ocean vessel and agricultural products grown in Central California.
And finally, San Diego will get $20 million for the Otay Mesa Port-of-Entry I-805/SR-905 Interchange.
TENNESSEE AND ALABAMA: The two states come out on top, receiving a whopping $105 million for the Crescent Corridor Intermodal Freight Rail Project, which will cost a total of $224 million. Here’s a description:
The Crescent Corridor is a major intermodal freight program centered on the continued development of Norfolk Southern’s rail intermodal route from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic. The TIGER grant supports construction of two new intermodal facilities in Memphis, TN and Birmingham, AL -both critical components of the full corridor plan. Construction of these new facilities includes pad and support tracks, trailer and container parking areas, lead tracks, and related ancillary buildings and features.
ILLINOIS: Next on the list is Chicago’s CREATE Program Projects, which walked away with $100 million, which will put a substantial dent in funding the $162 million project. So what is CREATE?
[It's] a package of 78 projects that address freight rail congestion in the Chicago area–a nationally significant freight bottleneck adversely affecting the delivery of goods throughout the country. The program is the product of extensive outreach and planning among federal, state, local and private stakeholders. TIGER funds will be used to complete the highest priority projects in the CREATE Program. These include installing new traffic control systems; constructing a new rail bridge; and making other significant improvements to signals, switches, roadways, sidewalks, and other components.
Then there’s the $22 million going to Normal, IL for a Multimodal Transportation Center connecting the town’s aviation, rail, bus, auto, and pedestrian facilities. Finally, the state’s SouthwesternRegional Intermodal Freight Transportation Hub will get $6 million.
OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND and WEST VIRGINIA: Combined, the states will get $98 million for the National Gateway Freight Rail Corridor, the total cost of which will come to $183 million. According to the DOT:
[The project] is a package of rail infrastructure and intermodal terminal projects that will enhance transportation service options along three major freight rail corridors owned and operated by CSX through the Midwest and along the Atlantic coast. The improvements will allow trains to carry double-stacked containers, increase freight capacity and make the corridor more marketable to major East Coast ports and shippers. TIGER funds will help complete the first corridor project, from Northwest Ohio to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, through West Virginia and Maryland.
NEW YORK: As we mentioned yesterday, the state will receive $83.3 million for the desperately-needed Moynihan Station that will house Amtrak in Manhattan. Granted, the total cost of the project is over $267 million — so wish us New Yorkers luck getting it finished.
ARIZONA: Hail, streetcars! Tucson will receive $63 million to build a “modern streetcar” described as follows:
The project will construct a 3.9 mile modern streetcar line in the City of Tucson that connects the city’s major activity centers, including the Arizona Health Sciences Center, the University of Arizona main campus, the Main Gate retail/entertainment area, the 4th Avenue retail/entertainment area, Downtown Tucson, the West End planned development, the El Rio Community Health Center and the Tucson Empowerment Zone.The TIGER grant will assist in funding track work and guide work construction; construction of stations, stops, terminals and support facilities; rights-of-way and land acquisition; and streetcar vehicles.
The projects total costs are estimated to be a bit over $150 million.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I thought the Moynihan station was going to be the new NJ Transit station, w/Amtrak staying put in Penn Station?
February 17th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
This is so great to see. If you read through some of the project descriptions it’s amazing how many relatively “small” projects can add up to big effects.
BTW,jfruh, I think it’s the reverse - NJT gets all of the old Penn station, Amtrak gets the new, IIRC.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Don’t forget that $25 mil for the M1 Light Rail in Detroit, Michigan, which will give the Motor City the first rail transit system since the failed People Mover in 1987. This time, light rail cars will stop 12 times between Grand Boulevard in Detroit’s urban New Center district (where the new train and transit station is going) and Jefferson Avenue at the Detroit River in the heart of the city’s downtown. It is part of a larger system that extends all the way to Eight Mile Rd, the city’s northern border with wealthy Oakland County. The total price tag for phase one (River to New Center) is $125 million. $85 of that is coming from a mix of largely private donations from area millionaires and developers, to tax credits and other state contributions. The federal money is a huge boost, bringing the total to $110, so only $15 mil left to go. They’re hoping to start digging in Spring 2011 and start phase 2 to Eight Mile (providing the addition $300-$400 mil come in) starting in 2013.
If built, light rail has the potential to transform blighted sections of Woodward and give a jolt of energy to an otherwise beleaguered city. And the line of this kind would be a firm commitment to the kind of ’smart growth’ development that has not been seen in decades. Woodward is at a tipping point, with many of its buildings being preserved and reused. Keeping our fingers crossed here in Detroit, but this seems like a pretty good sign.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
@jfruh and @Rockfish: Actually you are talking about two separate projects. NJT is building a new terminal of its own deep underground, just south of Penn Station that will sort of connect via escalators and elevators to the existing station. It’s very similar to the East Side Access project for the LIRR under Grand Central Terminal: It’s essentially a totally different station deep under an existing one. The NJT project started out as the Access the Regions Core (ARC) then became Trans Hudson Express Tunnel (THE Tunnel) and is now just the Mass Transit Tunnel (after they got the money, it apparently didn’t need a sexy name anylonger). This project adds two tunnels from NJ to Manhattan, to a new station with six new platforms. There is no track connection to the existing Penn Station, so Amtrak trains can’t use it. So while it increases the amount of capacity for NJT, allowing one-seat rides into Manhattan from the outer suburbs of NJ, it doesn’t compliment the existing infrastructure.
The Moynihan Station project doesn’t actually do anything to track capacity. All it does is move the Amtrak passenger areas out from the Penn Station catacombs under Madison Square Garden to the old Post Office across the street, which is built over the same tracks, thus allowing for new stairs and elevators to connect to the same old, crowded, over booked tracks that are used now. Essentially it’s just making the Amtrak waiting areas prettier. In the end, I think the LIRR continues to get shafted and they get most of the old Penn Station areas to themselves, except for the parts that NJT has now, which they’re keeping for themselves.
One of the biggest issues with the whole Penn Station area, is that they’re running out of underground area in which to build things. There’s the existing Penn Station, with the West Side Yards, the existing Hudson River Tunnels to NJ, the existing East River tunnels to LI, the existing subway lines, the existing “Empire Connection” for Amtrak to Albany, City Water Tunnel #1, the new #7 line extension and now the NJT Mass Transit Tunnel. All jammed into one tiny amount of three dimensional space. Oh, and they built Madison Square Garden on top of it all.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
*sigh* And lil ol UT isn’t on that list. You’d think the city with the worst air in the nation for a month in winter would get some funding. Instead, come April, our public transit is slashing service, going so far as to cancel many routes on weekends. I wonder how some low income people will get to work when there is no bus service in half the city. I’m just glad I don’t have to commute in on Saturday or Sunday because my train service won’t exist on those days.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
The CREATE Program is actually a $3 billion program consisting of 71 projects. CREATE received funding in SAFETEA-LU in 2005 and in the 2009 Illinois capital bill, and has an unfunded program need of more than $2 billion. The $100 million from the TIGER program will fund five projects, including signal upgrades, added mainline tracks, viaduct improvements, and a new road/rail grade separation.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:45 am
[...] for the other nationwide winners and losers in today’s announcement [PDF], Streetsblog, The Infrastructurist, and The Transport Politic have excellent posts that cover the big [...]
February 18th, 2010 at 10:55 am
[...] the rest here: The TIGER Grants: Which States Were the Big Winners … Post a comment | Trackback [...]
February 21st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
[...] Tale and Lessons for Stimulus Spending (TNR/Brookings) TIGER Grants: Which States Were the Big Winners? (Infrastructurist) Rail and Transit Benefit, Highways Lose Out in TIGER Grant Distribution [...]