U.S Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg on June 30 announced that the Biden-Harris Administration intends to award $905.25 million to 24 projects in 18 states under the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program. These grants advance the Administration’s priorities of rebuilding America’s infrastructure and creating jobs by funding highway and rail projects of regional and national economic significance that position America to win the 21st century.
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority will be awarded $49 million to construct a new approximately 1,056 linear foot multi-use berth that will be used to accommodate roll-on/roll-off vessels. This project also includes the dredging of the adjacent berth space.
The project supports economic vitality by creating jobs and through the freight truck and port operating cost savings. The project also improves disaster preparedness and resiliency because it will be constructed to the 100-year floodplain. The project is located entirely within a Federal Empowerment Zone.
The Georgia Ports Authority will be awarded $46,868,000 to build a new inland container port along the I-85/I-985 corridor in an unincorporated area of Gainesville, which will be linked with the Port of Savannah by direct, 324-mile intermodal freight rail service.
The project supports economic vitality by creating jobs and reducing freight travel times by providing a direct freight rail link to the Port of Savannah, reducing the need for containers moving between the Gainesville area and the seaport from traveling either 301 miles by truck or are moving by rail to a yard west of Atlanta and then traveling by truck an additional 70 miles through a congested area. By shifting more transport to freight, it will have positive climate impacts by reducing vehicle miles traveled. There is also private sector support for the project which can stretch federal dollars even further with this project.