Clyburn Announces $12 Million TIGER Grant for I-95/US 301 Interchange
December 13, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – December 13, 2011 – Sixth District Congressman andHouse Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn today announcedOrangeburg County has received a $12.1 million U.S. Department ofTransportation TIGER grant to create a southbound access ramp from U.S.Highway 301 to Interstate 95. The project will also extend Highway 301from the interchange to the site of the Jafza intermodal distributioncenter.
This grant award added to $14.9 million previously securedby Congressman Clyburn, and $3 million and $1 million contributed bythe State and Orangeburg County respectively, will be enough to completethis $26 million phase of the I-95/U.S. Highway 301 improvementproject. This project is crucial to the full utilization of the Jafzacenter, which is located in the Global Logistics Triangle bounded byI-95, Highway 301, and S.C. Highway 6.
Today’s TIGER grant is anearly Christmas present for the State of South Carolina, CongressmanClyburn said. This project will make a Continental Tire or Boeingaircraft type project possible for Orangeburg County and the I-95corridor.
According to Orangeburg County’s TIGERgrant application, Jafza center operators expect the full distributioncenter to generate more than 6,000 jobs regionally in an area which is,and has been for decades, one of the nation’s most economicallydisadvantaged.
The center, when completed, willreceive offloaded cargo from the Charleston and Savannah ports by trainand trucks for distribution to its final destination.
OrangeburgCounty is thrilled with today’s announcement of the TIGER grant toenhance the I-95/US 301 interchange that will create an opportunity forsignificant economic development along an economically challenged areaon the I-95 corridor, said Bill Clark, Orangeburg CountyAdministrator.
I would like to thank Congressman James Clyburn,along with Senator Lindsey Graham and the other members of ourCongressional Delegation for their work in assisting our local officialsin making improvements to the needed infrastructure that will lead tojob creation for the citizens in our County.
Thisis a project I have been working on for more than a decade, and it isexciting to see it come together at a time when our rural communitiesalong the I-95 corridor have been hit so hard by the economic downturn,Congressman Clyburn continued. Today is truly a great day inOrangeburg County.
In addition to the long-termimpact on the local economy, the construction of the access ramp and301 extension is estimated to create 404 jobs from 2012 to 2016. Mostof those jobs are expected to be created in Orangeburg County, whichranks eighth among the nation’s poorest counties with a populationgreater than 65,000 based on 2008 data.
