Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Local Transportation Projects Miss Out On Federal Funding

Mark Heyne
/
WVXU News

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Thursday it will provide $500 million for 39 transportation projects in 34 states.  But four Southwest Ohio projects weren't among them.

The funding comes from the department’s 2015 TIGER, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program.

Local TIGER applications for 2015 included:

  • Wasson Way Commuter Trail Network (City of Cincinnati) $17,154,859
  • Elmore to Central Parkway Connector (City of Cincinnati) $33,012,779
  • The Banks Intermodal Transit Facility Phases IIIA & IV (Hamilton County) $45,500,000
  • Butler County Connect (Butler County Regional Transit Authority) $20,191,870

A news release said 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.

“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,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in the news release.

This year, rural areas received 43 percent of the project awards, a higher percentage than any previous year.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.