Washington DC – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced $23 million in transportation funding for the City of Portland from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) of 2009 to help rebuild SW Moody Ave on Portland’s South Waterfront.
“Independent economists say that there are 2 million people working today who would otherwise be jobless if not for the Recovery Act, and I’m pleased this grant will add some more Oregonians to that number,” Merkley said. “This investment will put Oregonians to work, help rebuild the city’s infrastructure and improve the connection between downtown Portland and the South Waterfront business district.”
“The best way to use Recovery Act money is to invest in infrastructure projects that pay dividends today by creating family-wage jobs, and tomorrow by creating a first-class transportation system,” Wyden said. “This project is a perfect example of that.”
Today’s announcement comes from the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant Program which was included in the Recovery Act to spur a national competition for innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects. These projects must promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation. Projects funded include improvements to roads, bridges, rail, ports, transit and intermodal facilities.
The project awarded today will facilitate economic activity by opening up large parcels adjacent to SW Moody Avenue for development and will incorporate additional transit options along SW Moody Avenue to help ensure the economic success of the South Waterfront district. This infrastructure investment also supports the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail extension and streetcar extensions.
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