Title
Authorizing the Department of Public Works to apply for a Federal TIGER Discretionary Grant for replacement of the Kellogg-3rd Street Bridge.
Body
WHEREAS, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 appropriated $500 million to be awarded by the Department of Transportation for National Infrastructure Investments, referred to over the program's six year history as TIGER Discretionary Grants; and
WHEREAS, the grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region; and
WHEREAS, the grants will be awarded to support major capital infrastructure investments for highways and bridges, public transportation, passenger and freight rail, ports and intermodal facilities; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has reviewed the qualifying and ranking criteria and determined that the replacement of the Kellogg/3rd Street Bridge is an eligible project; and
WHEREAS, if successful, the grant would support replacement of a multi-lane, structurally deficient bridge over I-94 and multiple railways, on which load restrictions were imposed in 2014; and
WHEREAS, the new bridge would include bicycle and pedestrian facilities and capacity for the proposed Gold Line BRT that will link the East Metro with the hub of the regional transit system at the Saint Paul Union Depot; and
WHEREAS, the project would support Ladders of Opportunity by connecting downtown Saint Paul, a major job center with a growing residential population, with low-income neighborhoods, minority-owned businesses, and flourishing industrial redevelopment on Saint Paul's East Side; and
WHEREAS, the grant application requires a minimum of twenty (20) percent non-federal funding match that the City is seeking to secure from its Capital Improvement Budget and the State of Minnesota's Capital Investment Budget; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council supports the application for a TIGER Discretionary Grant to rebuild the Kellogg/3rd Street Bridge and hereby authorizes and directs the Department of Public Works to submit such application to the US Department of Transportation; and be it
FINALLY RESOLVED, that if the grant is awarded, the City Council does hereby authorize the proper City officials to execute contracts and grant agreements as are necessary to implement the project on behalf of the City of Saint Paul.