U.S. Department of Transportation
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Transportation Assistant Secretary Carlos Monje, Jr. announced that the Department of Transportation has awarded the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority a $10 million TIGER grant to replace and modernize the terminal at the New Orleans Canal Street Ferry. The project is one of 39 federally-funded transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive a total of $500 million under the Department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) 2015 program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced project selections for this seventh round of TIGER grants on October 29.
The Department 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 New Orleans Canal Street Ferry project will replace the existing Ferry Terminal with a smaller and more modern facility and close the gap in the Riverfront promenade caused by the existing Ferry Terminal’s configuration.
The project will improve safety for passengers at the ferry terminal by replacing an outdated facility and making it easier for pedestrians to move throughout the area,” said Assistant Secretary Monje. “We are proud to support the City and RTA’s vision to transform and revitalize the Riverfront.”
“This project will make a profound difference for New Orleans residents, commuters and tourists,” said Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Therese McMillan. “The new ferry terminal will provide a safer pedestrian environment and enable more convenient, accessible transfers between bus, streetcar and ferry services in an area that is vital to the city’s tourism economy.”
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.
Click here for additional information on individual TIGER grants.
- See more at: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-announces-10-million-tiger-grant-new-orleans-canal-street#sthash.6qVgibYK.dpuf