Rep. Blum Releases Statement on Cedar Rapids Intermodal Grant Award

Press Release

Today, Congressman Rod Blum released the following statement upon the announcement that the Iowa Department of Transportation has been awarded $25,650,000 in Federal funding to build a full service intermodal facility in Cedar Rapids. Reps. Blum and Loebsack advocated jointly for this grant in a letter sent to Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in April of this year.

"This new state of the art facility will lower transportation costs both regionally and nationally, and will help Iowa farmers and small businesses transport more goods so they can expand and grow their operations in Eastern Iowa," said Congressman Blum. "Cedar Rapids is the ideal location to build this type of facility and I commend the Iowa DOT and the private sector partners like Alliant Energy Transportation who worked so hard to make this project a reality. Congressman Loebsack and I were privileged to provide a letter of support for this project and will continue to work together to advocate for improved infrastructure in Eastern Iowa."

More on this project from Governor Branstad's office:

The federal funds will come to the state under the newly established Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant program. This program, created by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, [which Congressman Blum voted for in 2015] is being used to fund critical freight and highway projects across the country. The grant will partially cover the $46.5 million cost of the project. Nearly $21 million of the project will be funded by private partners, led by Alliant Energy Transportation.

The state of Iowa is located between freight centers in Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis, yet lacks adequate intermodal service which helps facilitate easy transition of freight between different modes of transportation. The Cedar Rapids project will construct integrated facilities for a container intermodal terminal; a rail-to-truck transload facility for bulk commodities; and a cross-dock facility for consolidating and redistributing truck loads, as well as loading and unloading containers. It will provide Iowa and surrounding states with access to a high capacity, efficient, and cost-competitive facility to move goods from truck to rail and vice versa, generating significant mobility, reliability, and economic outcomes. It is expected that the project will begin construction by spring 2017.

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