Arkansas Waterway Commission Awards $4.6 Million In Grants
The Arkansas Waterways Commission is awarding more than $4.6 million in grants for four Arkansas ports and one intermodal authority through the Arkansas Port, Intermodal and Waterway Development Grant Program.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the announcement October 30 alongside the Arkansas Department of Commerce. The program reinvests ad valorem taxes paid by industries on the value of commodities shipped on Arkansas’ navigable waterways into public ports and intermodal authorities to fund capital improvements and dredging projects.
“Arkansas sits in the heart of the heartland and is connected to some of the nation’s most dynamic metro areas by river, rail, road and runway,” Huckabee Sanders said. “Today’s funding announcement strengthens our commitment to preserving Arkansas’ waterways, safeguarding a cornerstone of North American trade and opening new doors for economic growth in the Natural State.”
John Edwards, chairman of the Arkansas Waterways Commission, said the projects serve a wide variety of needs, “from safety to erosion prevention, to enhancing economic viability – helping the Arkansas Waterways Commission achieve its mission of developing, promoting and protecting Arkansas’ commercially navigable waterways.
Projects awarded included: Central Arkansas Intermodal Authority, $400,000 for roadwork in new port area; Chicot-Desha Port Authority, $199,917 to relocate and refurbish truck and grain scales; City of Fort Smith Port Authority, $1,980,252.32 for warehouse space, concrete materials storage pad and signage; Little Rock Port Authority, $665,552.62 for installation of safety railings and gates, three Claw lid lifters adn eight sectional barges; Oceola Port Authority, $1,342,732.50 for retaining walls to prevent bank erosion.
The Arkansas Waterways Commission is the state agency responsible for developing, promoting and protecting waterborne transportation in Arkansas. The Commission also promotes economic development for ports on the five commercially navigable rivers in the state: the Arkansas, Mississippi, Ouachita, Red and White. The Arkansas Waterways Commission is a division of the Arkansas Department of Commerce.
