The Department of Transportation is awarding $24 million for Paducah and McCracken County to build a new port on the Ohio River.
The announcement made by U.S. Rep. James Comer’s office on Wednesday comes as local leaders say the existing riverport in Paducah, near the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, is at full capacity.
With its location near the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers, Paducah is a major hub for companies towing barges on the country’s inland waterways. According to the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority, 23 barge companies have operating or company headquarters in the far western Kentucky city.
The federal funding comes from the DOT’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, which supports transportation projects with significant local or regional impact.
Comer called the BUILD grant award a “major win for McCracken County,” and said it would help spur new economic growth opportunities in the region.
The new port would be on the Ohio River, around nine miles from the current one in McCracken County. The planned location is next to the Triple Rail Site, a space that local economic development leaders have marketed for years for its connections to three rail lines and close access to water and highway transportation. It’s also less than two miles away from the Department of Energy Paducah site. General Matter plans to build a uranium enrichment facility on that property, while Global Laser Enrichment plans to set up shop nearby.
According to the Waterways Journal, Riverport West is expected to cost around $70 million to build.
