DOT Awards $10 mln for San Diego Terminal Upgrade

San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal Modernization project is due to receive $10 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Deputy Maritime Administrator Michael J. Rodriguez announced today.

The project is one of 39 federally-funded transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive a total of $500 million under the DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) 2015 program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced project selections for this round of TIGER grants on October 29.

DOT said it received 627 eligible applications from 50 states and several U.S. territories, including tribal governments, requesting 20 times the $500 million available for the program, or $10.1 billion for needed transportation projects.

“Transportation is always about the future. If we're just fixing today's problems, we'll fall further and further behind. We already know that a growing population and increasing freight traffic will require our system to do more," said Secretary Foxx. “In this round of TIGER, we selected projects that focus on where the country’s transportation infrastructure needs to be in the future; ever safer, ever more innovative and ever more targeted to open the floodgates of opportunity across America.”

The TIGER funds will support modernization and enhancement projects at the Port of San Diego to increase cargo capacity, safety and improve operational efficiency. The demolition of outdated, obsolete covered warehouses along the Tenth Avenue terminal will provide additional space for shippers and improve ease of operations and safety for the movement of oversized cargo within the port. This project will also improve on-dock rail facilities to eliminate rail stops an adjacent yard prior to departing for the final destination. The funding provided today, as well as the release earlier this month of the draft National Freight Strategic Plan available here, demonstrates the Obama Administration’s commitment to increasing and improving the movement of freight, while reducing costs and increasing economic competitiveness.

With this latest round of funding, TIGER continues to invest in transformative projects that will provide significant and measurable improvements over existing conditions. The awards recognize projects nationwide that will advance key transportation goals such as safety, innovation and opportunity.

“With this grant, the Port of San Diego will be able to take the crucial steps of upgrading its grounds and creating the superior rail facilities it will need to support rising American exports,” said Deputy Maritime Administrator Michael J. Rodriguez. 

This is the seventh TIGER round since 2009, bringing the total grant amount to $4.6 billion provided to 381 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 134 projects to support rural and tribal communities. Demand for the program has been overwhelming; to date, the Department of Transportation has received more than 6,700 applications requesting more than $134 billion for transportation projects across the country.

The GROW AMERICA Act, the Administration’s surface transportation legislative proposal, would keep TIGER roaring with $7.5 billion over six years for future TIGER grants.