The Duval County Legislative Delegation voted unanimously Monday to lend its support toward development of an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the port of Jacksonville.
The delegation’s three state senators and eight state representatives who represent Duval County in the Florida Legislature agreed to sign a letter in support of the project.
State Sen. John Thrasher notified the delegation that a letter had been drafted that would be sent to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood.
The delegation held its organizational meeting and a general public hearing Monday at City Hall.
Representatives from the Jacksonville Port Authority and transportation company CSX Corp. approached the delegation about the $45 million project.
Chris Kauffmann, the port’s chief operating officer, and Mike O’Malley, CSX vice president of state govern-
ment and community affairs, asked for the delegation’s backing for their
application for federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery fund money.
The port and CSX will partner to create the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the port’s Dames Point Marine Terminal.
To fund the project, $20 million is being sought from the Florida Department of Transportation and $25 million from the federal government through the TIGER III grant program.
The grant program has about $527 million available for road, rail, transit and port projects.
“The project will bring on-dock rail to our Dames Point facility and take containers and trucks off the highway, which will ease traffic congestion in that part of town,” said Kauffmann.
“We’d appreciate any support from the delegation to make that application that much stronger,” he said.
LaHood visited the port and the TraPac terminal in July.
“Having the chance to put eyes on a project like this is helpful to us. We will take a very close look at the proposal that will be submitted by the Jacksonville port and it will get very serious consideration,” said LaHood during the visit.
This is the third round of TIGER grant funding. While the port authority hasn’t been successful with its previous attempt to secure the funding, it has support in key areas from LaHood and local, state and federal legislators.
Those legislators include state Reps. Lake Ray and Charles McBurney, who were elected chairman and vice chairman of the delegation by its members.
“We serve that important role of taking the key issues affecting Duval County and its citizens to the state Legislature,” said Ray, when asked about his role as leader of the delegation.
“The key issues continue to be economy and jobs. We also need to make sure that our special needs are being met. Education is also always an important issue and we need to do everything we can to protect our funding for schools,” he said.
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