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March 26: State Transportation Plan Reflects Kaptur Funding Priorities

March 26, 2009
Rep. Marcy Kaptur welcomed the announcement of state funding prioritiesunder the federal stimulus plan as reflecting several job-producinginitiatives that she has championed.

“These choices reflect the priorities that I have identified overthe past several years,” said Congresswoman Kaptur, citing efforts todevelop intermodal transportation capacity, revitalize the ToledoShipyards, and improve facilities at the Port of Toledo.

“These priorities that can create jobs and bring new economic activityto the area,” Congresswoman Kaptur said. “I look forward to workingtogether with Governor Strickland on further improvements to ourtransportation infrastructure.”

The governor this morning announced a statewide list of transportationprojects that will be funded through the American Recovery andReinvestment Act that was proposed by President Obama and approved byCongress.

The list included the high-bay initiative at the Toledo Shipyards ($15million), the seaport crane project ($6.8 million), the Airline Yardmulti-modal transportation project ($6.5 million) and reconstruction ofOtter Creek Road in Oregon ($3 million).

"These choices reflect priorities that can grow our job base and bringnew economic activity to the area. Our previous federal investments inmaking improvements at the Port of Toledo as well as rail and cargocapacity here have resulted in this further investment,” Kaptur said.

Congresswoman Kaptur has led local discussions about an intermodaltransportation facility based at the Port of Toledo. She led a localdelegation to Nova Scotia last fall to discuss the “Atlantic Gateway”project that would make Toledo a port of destination for globalshipping through the St. Lawrence Seaway.“The tandem investments at Airline Yard and the Port of Toledo createopportunities for local business and local job development in a coregrowth sector of our area’s economy,” Kaptur said.

The shipyard modernization project would renovate the current facility,expand the high-bay building to accommodate new job-creating ventures,and acquire equipment for barge construction and wind power componentprojection. She estimated that approximately 100 jobs would be created.

Kaptur said the acquisition of a mobile harbor crane could increasecapacity significantly at the Port of Toledo, giving it the ability tomove up to 35 containers per hour for bulk material handling. She saidthe facility improvements will give the Port of Toledo a competitiveadvantage over other ports on the Great Lakes.

“This is another signal to the world that we are serious aboutcompeting as a global logistics hub,” Kaptur said. She said acompetitive logistics hub would result in new jobs for the localeconomy.