(Billings, MT – YPR) – The Port of Northern Montana was awarded a nearly $10 million Department of Transportation TIGER III grant.

“This is exactly the kind of smart investment we need to get folks back to work and push our economy forward,” US Senator Max Baucus announced in a press release. “The Intermodal Hub is a perfect example of local ingenuity and public-private partnerships working together to create jobs.”

The grant will help pay for linking freight rail transportation between the state of Montana and all ports served by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway in the West and Great Lakes. This includes the Washington ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Longview and Vancouver, and in Minnesota, the Port of Duluth.

The press release says the completion of the Intermodal Hub project in Shelby will allow Montana businesses to transport goods by rail instead of heavy truck. The project is also expected to allow the trucking industry to move freight quicker and more efficiently.