October 16, 2024 11:10 a.m.  

On Wednesday, U.S. Representative Val Hoyle and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, announced over $25 million in federal funding for the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port Terminal Planning Project.

A joint release from the lawmakers said the investment comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway projects grant program.

Hoyle said that she was thrilled with the announcement. Hoyle said, “This project has the potential to bring over 8,000 jobs to Southwest Oregon’s coastal communities and to strengthen our nation’s supply chain.”. Hoyle said, “Today’s announcement brings use one step closer to rebuilding the South Coast as an economic engine for the state and introduces more pathways to the middle class”.

Wyden said, “Today’s $25 million announcement takes a significant step forward to landing this Port of Coos Bay project that will ultimately generate thousands of good paying jobs on the South Coast and extend huge economic and environmental benefits throughout Oregon”.

Merkley said, “This project will create thousands of good-paying union jobs and permanent local jobs, boost the economy, and help address bottlenecks in the national supply chain while cutting greenhouse gas emissions”.

The release said in addition to creating thousands of jobs in a rural area that has been too often overlooked, the PCIP project will benefit the nation’s supply chain by easing congestion at West Coast ports. It will also be the nation’s first ship-to-rail port on the West Coast, meaning the facility will not need to rely on trucks to move cargo. The project is also anticipated to use renewable energy sources to provide green electricity, which will allow for the use of electric-powered cargo handling equipment, vehicle charging and onshore power. The Port will be fitted with electric power plug-ins to power ships at berth during the process of unloading.