Gov. DeSantis announces nearly $10 million awarded to Winter Haven for road improvements

WINER HAVEN, Fla. — Gov, Ron DeSantis announced over $9 million in awards to the City of Winter Haven for road improvements at the Intermodal Logistics Center.

DeSantis made the announcement at Winter Haven City Hall on Monday morning.

The governor was met with applause when he handed over two checks to city commissioners.

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A total of $9.4 million was awarded to support economic growth in Winter Haven and improve Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Park.

The park is a 930-acre industrial park that was built in 2014.

The facility serves as a centralized hub for transportation, logistics and distribution serving Orlando, Tampa and South Florida.

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“Winter Haven is a great and fast-growing community, and we understand to keep this area growing, it needs strong infrastructure,” said DeSantis. “Today, I was proud to award more than $9 million to Winter Haven to make road improvements to the Intermodal Logistics Center, attracting businesses and creating new jobs for the community. Today’s announcement builds upon the $60 million in investments we have already made in Polk County in 2021, because we know this area will help drive our state now and into the future. While there are worrying trends on the national level, we are going to keep doing our job in Florida and we will continue to capitalize on Florida’s strong economic momentum.”

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$6.4 million for the project is being awarded through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund with an additional $3 million from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The governor said close to 5000 jobs could be created, thanks to the extra funds.

In addition to improving the roads leading to the Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Park, there are also plans to extend fiber optics to improve the internet for the park and all the businesses located there.

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“This project will support major freight and logistics operations to address current and future consumer needs from Jacksonville to Miami, and the Florida Department of Transportation is proud to contribute $3 million to help bring it to fruition,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “Together with our local partners, we are undoubtedly enhancing Florida’s logistics network and maximizing use of our state transportation system.”

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