Funding

TIGER Discretionary Grant

On June 22, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) awarded CDOT a $15 million TIGER Discretionary Grant, which will provide much-needed congestion relief for the Denver metropolitan area.  This grant allows CDOT to complete the planned improvements at less than one-third of the cost and with an estimated $512 million in benefits.

With broad local and regional support for the I-25 North Express Lanes as the first logical and affordable improvements in the corridor and $29 million in state and local funding, the addition of the TIGER Discretionary Grant allows CDOT the opportunity to accelerate the project schedule and build the necessary improvements by 2012 – two decades earlier than originally planned.

What is TIGER Discretionary Funding?

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER Discretionary Grant programs, provide a unique opportunity for the U.S. Department of Transportation to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve critical national objectives. In fiscally constrained times, it’s especially important to ensure that taxpayers are getting value for every dollar invested.

The TIGER programs use rigorous, multi-modal selection criteria and the results of economic analysis to select projects. Applicants must detail the benefits their project would deliver for five primary long-term outcomes, safety, economic competitiveness, state of good repair, livability and environmental sustainability and were evaluated against these criteria. Applicants were also evaluated on contributions to economic recovery, a priority for DOT, as well as innovation and partnership.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded nearly $500 million from the TIGER 2012 program to 47 transportation projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia.