Washington, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded significant grants to two Washington state transportation projects under the competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program. The projects receiving grants are the South Transit South Link, and Interstate 5 JBLM Area Congestion Management Project.
“This is great news for local commuters, communities, and the economy throughout Seattle and around Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” said Senator Patty Murray. “I was proud to create the TIGER program to fund investments like these that put people to work, boost the local economy, and lay down a strong foundation for long-term economic growth. And as more and more servicemembers return from overseas to JBLM, it is especially important that our transportation infrastructure keep up and congestion is reduced for servicemembers and local families.”
“These projects will help pave the way for job and economic growth in Washington state,” said Senator Maria Cantwell. “Improvements to Interstate 5 near Joint Base Lewis-McChord will reduce traffic congestion and give the already thriving local business sector, anchored by JBLM and the ports, room for expansion. And by extending Central Link light rail to South 200th Street we’ll support thousands of construction jobs while better linking commuters and residents throughout the region to jobs and economic opportunities.”
The following projects were selected to receive TIGER grants:
Sound Transit South Link ($10 million)
This project will extend light rail south, approximately 1.6 miles, from Seattle Tacoma International Airport to South 200th Street.
Interstate 5 JBLM Area Congestion Management Project: SR 510 to SR 512 ($15 million)
This project adds capacity, and controls and redistributes demand in this heavily congested corridor. It completes the deployment of innovative Traffic Management strategies, including: shoulder widening to accommodate hard shoulder running; variable lane control, ramp metering, HOV applications, congestion monitoring, expanded traveler information, and local intersection and military gate improvements.
The TIGER program was created by Senator Murray in 2009 in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to spur a national competition for innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation. Following the successful initial round of funding, Senator Murray secured support for the program in the 2010 and 2011 federal budgets.
The TIGER program has already made a number of investments in Washington state infrastructure, including:
North Spokane Corridor (Spokane)
West Vancouver Freight Access Project (Port of Vancouver)
East Foster Wells Road Extension (Franklin County)
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