WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (IL-12) announced a nearly $14 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) program for the Southern Illinois Multimodal Station (SIMMS) project, a new transportation center in downtown Carbondale.
“This is huge news for the city of Carbondale and residents of the entire region,” said Bost. “This grant will empower Carbondale to make critical updates to its transportation systems, improving access for more residents and providing new infrastructure to best connect Jackson County with the rest of the region. Carbondale can be proud that it secured funding through one of the most rigorous, merit-based infrastructure grant competitions around.”
The $13,986,000 grant will be used to fund both the design and construction of a new multi-modal transportation center in downtown Carbondale as well as the demolition of the existing Amtrak station. The SIMMS project will replace the aging train and bus station in downtown Carbondale with a new station that will bring together multiple modes of transportation into one safe, efficient, and convenient location to serve a 30-county area in Southern Illinois. The project will also provide over 100 high paying construction jobs during the development process.
