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Chalk up 47 more transportation projects for the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that many projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia will receive a total of about $500 million in TIGER IV grants.

About 35 percent of the funding will help pay for road and bridge projects, while 16 percent will support transit projects and 13 percent will support high-speed and intercity passenger-rail projects, USDOT officials said in a prepared statement. In addition, freight-rail, multi-modal and port projects each account for 12 percent of total funds. Applications for the program’s fourth round sought a total of $10.2 billion in grants.

Twenty-four rail-related projects will receive grants totaling $297 million, according to the OneRail Coalition. The TIGER IV grants for rail-related projects include:
• $21 million for the first phase of work at Raleigh Union Station in North Carolina as part of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor;
• $20 million to the Chicago Transit Authority for the 95th Street terminal expansion;
• $18 million for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority’s planned streetcar line in downtown Fort Lauderdale;
• $16 million for the Pickaway East West Connector Road project in Columbus, Ohio, that includes the removal of grade crossings;
• $15 million to the city of Sacramento, Calif., to upgrade a station;
• $15 million to the Port of Oakland, Calif., for intermodal rail improvements;
• $15 million for the Rochester, N.Y., intermodal center, which calls for replacing an Amtrak station with a multi-modal facility;
• $14.9 million to Memphis, Tenn., for the Main Street to Main Street multi-modal connector project, which includes upgrades to a trolley and Amtrak station;
• $12.8 million for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s Wayne Junction substation replacement work;
• $12 million for the Alabama State Port Authority’s intermodal container transfer facility at the Port of Mobile;
• $12 million to the Brownsville Navigation District for the Gulf Marine intermodal project that includes new rail sidings;
• $12 million for the Joplin, Mo., transportation and disaster recovery projects, which include the construction of two grade-separated highway overpasses over a Kansas City Southern line;
• $11.4 million for the Port of New York and New Jersey’s South Hudson intermodal facility in Bayonne, N.J.;
• $10.9 million for the city of West Memphis’ planned rail port at a logistics park in Arkansas;
• $10.4 million to the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, program for 15 projects;
• $10 million for a regional transportation center in the Wilmington, Del., area, which calls for constructing two high-level platforms and a station, realigning Norfolk Southern Railway yard tracks, and installing new rail and turnouts;
• $10 million for freight-rail improvements at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx, N.Y.;
• $10 million to the city and county of San Francisco and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for a multi-modal, transit-oriented development project at Mission Bay/UCSF Hospital;
• $10 million to the Washington State Department of Transportation for the North Spokane corridor rail realignment project;
• $10 million to the Port of Corpus Christi to build new rail infrastructure;
• $8.9 million for the Yellowstone International Airport interchange development in Belgrade, Mont., that includes the removal of grade crossings;
• $7.9 million for the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s and New England Central Railroad’s upgrade of 18.8 miles of track between St. Albans, Vt., and the Canadian border;
• $7 million to the Oregon Department of Transportation for the Siskiyou Summit rail revitalization project; and
• $6.4 million to the Tulsa Port of Catoosa for a main dock rehabilitation project in Oklahoma that includes realignments to on-site rail.

On Friday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith attended a ceremony during which LaHood and Menendez presented a check to the Port of New York and New Jersey for the TIGER grant awarded for the intermodal facility in Bayonne. The South Hudson Intermodal Facility will enhance the port’s three existing rail facilities and reduce road congestion in the area. TIGER grant proceeds will be used to procure two double-cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes that will load and unload double-stack rail cars.

Over the next six months, 27 projects are expected to break ground from the TIGER program’s three previous rounds. Through all four rounds combined, the TIGER program has provided $3.1 billion to 218 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, according to the USDOT.

The fiscal-year 2013 appropriations bill currently under consideration in the Senate would provide $500 million for a future round of TIGER grants, USDOT officials said.