09.09.14

Durbin: Champaign-Urbana To Recieve $15.7 Million Federal TIGER Grant Investment in Transportation Network

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced today that the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) has been awarded $15.7 million for the Champaign-Urbana Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project to revitalize the region’s transportation network. The Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project will rehabilitate busy traffic corridors that connect the cities of Champaign and Urbana with the University of Illinois. It will also increase bus service and bike capacity while making sidewalks throughout downtown Champaign and Urbana more pedestrian-friendly. 

Durbin announced the project during his monthly call on Newstalk 1400 WDWS-AM radio. Listen here.

“Over $264 million in TIGER grant funding has been awarded to Illinois since I worked with my colleagues in the Senate to create and fund this program four years ago,” said Durbin, who advocated for the program in conversations and letters with Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx earlier this year. “I am pleased to announce today that because of the hard work of community and government leaders in Champaign and Urbana, we are able to bring another piece of that funding back to Central Illinois. The Champaign-Urbana Multimodal Corridor Enhancement project is part of an ambitious effort that will have a transformative effect on the region – creating jobs, enhancing access to employment and healthcare, stimulating the economy, and supporting the growth of the community and the University of Illinois.”

In April, Durbin submitted a letter in support of CUMTD’s application for federal Transportation, Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funding.  A copy of Durbin’s letter to Secretary Foxx is available here. 

Earlier this year, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District – in coordination with the City of Champaign, the City of Urbana, and the University of Illinois – submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for funding through the TIGER grant program. Today’s funding was announced as part of the sixth round of funding for the TIGER grant program; applications for this round of funding totaled $9.5 billion in requests from projects across the country, 15 times the $600 million set aside for the program.

Created by Congress in 2009, the TIGER grant program directs the Department of Transportation to invest in a variety of transportation modes, selects projects through a merit-based process. The grant program also ensures that projects across the country are funded and includes several provisions to balance the needs of urban and rural areas. To date, more than $264 million in TIGER grant funding has been allocated to Illinois development projects such as the Springfield Rail Improvement Project, the Warehouse District in Peoria, the Multimodal Facilities in Moline, Normal and Alton and the CREATE project in Chicago.