DOT chief to visit Seattle port

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is planning to visit the Port of Seattle on Monday to make an announcement about a $20 million grant his department is offering to the facility. 

The award is part of the federal government’s 2014 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The program promises $600 million to 72 infrastructure projects in 46 states and Washington, D.C. 

The grants were given to projects selected from 779 applications from 49 states, the Department of Transportation said when the awards were announced a month ago. 

{mosads}Foxx is scheduled to visit the port on Monday with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). 

The TIGER grant program was created by the 2009 economic stimulus bill. The program allows states to apply for funding for transportation projects that “will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region,” according to the department’s website. 

The grant program quickly proved popular with both Republicans and Democrats, and it was expanded in the surface transportation bill in 2012.

The 2012 bill was due for renewal this year, but Congress could not agree on a way to pay for another multi-year round of road and transit funding. Instead, lawmakers opted to approve a nearly $11 billion temporary extension to May 2015.