FTA and FDOT Secure Truck Parking Grant

IIJA-funded grant will build 120 parking spaces near Plant City

By Steve Brawner Contributing Writer

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Our partnership will help support and further FTA’s mission of promoting and protecting the interests of Florida’s trucking and transportation industry.

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“We are proud that we were the first to receive this state funding, and I’m not surprised by it. Florida Department of Transportation has always been a leader when it comes to innovation and creative solutions, and they have always been a wonderful partner to us.

A $15 million federal grant will construct approximately 120 badly needed parking spaces near Plant City.

The grant will pay for parking on a busy Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando that carries an average of 18,000 trucks per day, according to American Trucking Associations. Electric charging stations will be included.

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The grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation is part of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program. Funding came from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law last year.

Tennessee also was awarded a $22.6 million grant to build approximately 125 parking spots on I-40 in Smith County. The two were the first parking projects to receive grants under the new funding structure.

The entire I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando was labeled an area of concern in a 2020 Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Statewide Truck Parking Study because of the amount of unauthorized truck parking and because of the high utilization rates of existing parking facilities. Other areas of concern included urban areas such as the Miami and Jacksonville areas.

Alix Miller, Florida Trucking Association’s president and CEO, said the east-west corridor is a trucking hub with a lot of warehousing space.

Miller said FTA is “always advocating on behalf of our drivers for safe parking” and quickly recognized the opportunity the grant would provide.