Oakland Port Gets $15 Million Federal Grant for Rail Project

The Port of Oakland received a $15 million TIGER grant from the Department of Transportation to help fund the Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal (OHIT) Rail Access project, it said. The money will help pay to improve rail access to and from the Port and expand the Port's rail capacity, while providing rail access for the proposed Oakland Army Base development. Port officials said the grant also will help preserve $242 million in state funding for the project. The $15 million is from the fourth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program (FY2012). There was $500 million available in this round of the TIGER grants nationwide. This is the second TIGER grant secured by the Port of Oakland. The federal funding will be matched more than one-to-one to launch the first phase of the Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal (OHIT) Rail Access project, which is part of the joint City-Port OAB redevelopment plan, officials said.