Grant Moves Paducah Port Project Forward

A $40 million federal Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grant will advance construction of the final phase of the planned Riverport West project in Paducah, Ky.

U.S. Rep. James Comer, who represents western Kentucky, announced that the project was among the grant recipients October 26. Comer previously sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in support of the funding and spoke directly with U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) Administrator Steve Carmel to stress the project’s importance.

“The Riverport West project is a major investment in the future of McCracken County and Kentucky,” Comer said in the news release announcing the grant award. “This new funding will expand our region’s shipping capacity, strengthen critical transportation infrastructure and help attract new businesses and good-paying jobs. I was proud to support the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority’s work to secure this investment, and I commend its leaders and community partners for their ongoing efforts to get this project across the finish line. I will continue working with federal and local leaders to strengthen Kentucky’s economy and create new opportunities for our communities.”

The grant award brings funding received for the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority project to a total of $78 million, which was the estimated construction cost completed in January 2026. A $24 million Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant awarded July 1 and state funds provided the remainder.

“We really are excited,” Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Executive Director Jimmie Garrett said about receiving the PIDP grant.

All environmental assessments and studies have been completed, and engineering design work from Paducah’s Bacon Farmer Workman/Marcum Engineering and Consulting is 90 percent complete, he said.

In addition to finalizing grant agreements, the project must meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements for the two grants to meet all federal and state requirements.

The riverport is currently working with both federal and state agencies on permitting, and Garrett said he hopes to complete that process in the second or third quarter of 2027, allowing construction to proceed.

He anticipates that the riverport will be able to prepare its first construction contract for bid in the second half of 2027. The project will require multiple contracts, he said, but the initial one is anticipated to be for site preparation and dirt work.

The port site, at Ohio River Mile 944 on the left descending bank, will include a heavy haul road and 650-foot dock with 6½ acres of operating space, three barge berths and more than a mile of rail, with a triple track railyard on the dock.

While the BUILD grant funded the roadways and one of the 200-foot barge berths, the PIDP award will pay for the remaining two berths, railroad tracks and associated equipment.

When complete, the dock also will include truck scales, lighting, security fencing and office space.

Garrett said that with the development of the U.S. Department of Energy’s American Energy Hub data center campus two miles away, announced in August, along with $1.5 billion commercial uranium enrichment facilities to be built near or on the DOE site announced last year, the riverport has already been approached by several clients interested in utilizing the new riverport for movement of construction equipment, raw materials and finished products.

Riverport West is also immediately across the road from an 800-acre heavy-industrial-zone site that the Greater Paducah Economic Development Corporation is marketing as the “Triple Rail Site” because of direct rail access in all directions via the Paducah & Louisville Railway, the Canadian National Railway Company and BNSF Railway Company.

The Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority will also maintain its existing port site, now referred to as Riverport East, in downtown Paducah. That site is at 95 percent capacity. It is located between Miles 1.3 and 2.0 on the Tennessee River, near its confluence with the Ohio.

Featured photo caption: A $40 million PIDP grant announced October 26 will allow construction of the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority’s Riverport West Project at Ohio River Mile 944. This rendering shows the 650-foot dock with three barge berths and rail service. (Courtesy of Bacon Farmer Workman/Marcum Engineering)