United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao has announced that the Maritime Administration (MARAD) will establish a new, dedicated Gateway office in Paducah, Kentucky. Gateway offices provide assistance to public ports and state and local officials in addressing transportation congestion relief and improving freight and passenger movement.

The new location and resources will allow MARAD to expand in the area around the Paducah hub, and be better able to support the Inland Marine Transportation System, its ports, service providers and vessel operators. Paducah’s proximity to three major river confluences will support stakeholders working to create a strong transportation network on our inland waterways.

“The Paducah-McCracken County Riverport is a multi-modal center, with waterway, rail, and road connections, and with this level of maritime activity, it makes sense to place a Gateway office in Paducah,” said Chao. “This new Gateway Office will support Paducah’s important role as an inland waterway crossroads between the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers, as well as a major dry dock center.”

MARAD has nine other Gateway offices in proximity to the nation’s largest ports. The Gateway offices were established to act as liaisons between maritime communities, state and local authorities and their federal counterparts to identify intermodal challenges and solutions and assist in identifying Federal and state funding opportunities.

“Enhancing MARAD’s impact nationwide is critical for the continued success of the maritime industry,” said Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby.

The Inland Waterways Gateway Office in Paducah will have an area of responsibility which includes all or portions of the following Kentucky-adjacent states: West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee. The Paducah office will also provide support to MARAD’s St. Louis Gateway Office for the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.