Shelby: $1 Billion For Mobile Area

MOBILE, Ala. — Sen. Richard Shelby recently expounded on more than $1 billion for improvements headed for the Mobile area, AL.com reported. Part of 12 bills sent to President Joe Biden, local funding includes $100 million for the Mobile Airport Authority for design, planning and construction of improvements at the Mobile Downtown Airport (Mobile Downtown Airport Updates); $132.7 million for improvements at the Port of Mobile; $67.3 million for freight and intermodal rail infrastructure improvements at the Port of Mobile and Montgomery inland intermodal transfer facility; $65 million to support dredging of the Port of Mobile and multiple inland and intracoastal waterways throughout the state; $50 million for port operations and maintenance; $260 million for an additional Austal USA Expeditionary Fast Transport; and $330 million for an Austal Expeditionary Medical Ship. The University of South Alabama College of Medicine will also receive $60 million for construction of a medical science building, which already had $80 million in funding from the state and the University of South Alabama Foundation. The U.S. Coast Guard will receive $67 million for its Waterways Commerce Cutter program and $6 million for cyber compliance upgrades to critical training center simulators and trainers, including its Aviation Training Center Mobile. Finally, $5 million is earmarked to ensure successful implementation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s “Reef Fish Amendment 50,” which delegates the federal management of red snapper to the Gulf Coast states, and $3 million is tagged to support implementation of electronic logbooks for federally permitted Gulf Coast charter fishermen.