Kelly Hayes
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will join local officials Tuesday to celebrate a $12.6 million grant for Port Tampa Bay, which will be used to construct a new berth.
Buttigieg will be joined by U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson. The event will start at 10:30 a.m. at Port Tampa Bay.
The grant, part of President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, is one of five awarded to infrastructure projects in Florida. The event is part of the Biden administration’s “Building a Better America” tour, where he’ll also be traveling to Oklahoma, Nevada, Minnesota, Ohio and New Hampshire to highlight 166 infrastructure projects that will modernize roads, bridges and more.
The grant will help build a new berth at Port Redwing that will add capacity, increase efficiency, create hundreds of local jobs and strengthen supply chains at one of the country’s busiest ports.
“The Berth 301 project will have a generational impact on our community in terms of economic development and well-paying jobs,” Port Tampa Bay CEO Anderson said in a statement.
“Port Redwing has seen tremendous growth since the deepening and expansion of the Big Bend Channel. As our community continues to see record population growth, it is important to provide an efficient way to move construction and other bulk cargoes. This project optimizes supply chain economics and helps keep wear and tear on roads to a minimum.”
But, not everyone is looking forward to the visit.
“Tampa doesn’t want to hear a sales pitch for an unaffordable electric vehicle from Biden Bureaucrat Buttigieg. They want to know why Democrats like Charlie Crist and Kathy Castor voted to raise taxes during a recession,” said RNC spokeswoman Julia Friedland.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) was also awarded $20 million in federal grants last week, which will be used to construct a new Clearwater Transit Center. The funds are part of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. The funding marks the first RAISE grant awarded in Pinellas County.
