HUD Region 4 Administrator Alvarez Speaks at Charleston Erhardt Tunnel and Medical District Drainage Groundbreaking Ceremony

From podium, left to right: RA Alvarez, City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, Director of the SC Resilience Office Ben Duncan, and SC Governor Henry McMaster.

RA Alvarez and City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

Regional Administrator José Alvarez participated in a ceremony on Friday, May 13, to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Charleston Erhardt Tunnel and Medical District drainage in Charleston, SC. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded funding to the state of South Carolina nearly $10 million for the project under the Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation Funding Program (CBDG-MIT). The City of Charleston also made a commitment of $4.2 million for the project.

"Mitigation projects like this one aim to reduce the risk and future loss associated with natural disasters," said RA Alvarez. "These disasters can affect community services that benefit human health, safety, and economic security. Projects like the Ehrhardt Tunnel would not be possible without state and local leadership, like we have seen here from the governor and mayor."

The Medical District is increasingly threatened by repetitive flooding. Major storms affect access to essential medical care which impacts the public health and safety for employees, patients, visitors, and residents of the area.

"This project is crucial because the rising sea level and frequent king tides make it difficult for emergency vehicles and patients to get to the hospital," said City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

The Ehrhardt Project will construct a deep tunnel extension and drop shaft to drain the street level stormwater collection system into the deep tunnel and pump systems of the US-17/Spring-Fishburne Project. Construction for the US-17/Spring-Fishburne project is also underway.

CDBG-MIT enables eligible grantees to use funding in areas impacted by recent disasters to carry out strategic and high-impact activities to mitigate disaster risks and reduce future losses. Mitigation is defined as activities that increase resilience to disasters and reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss of property, and suffering and hardship by lessening the impact of future disasters. The total CBDG-MIT award for the entire state was $162 million, with the tunnel project receiving a nearly $10 million subgrant through the State of South Carolina's Office of Resilience.

"We refer to this as communication, collaboration and cooperation, "said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. "When everybody talks to each other, compares notes, and assembles assets, you can get a whole lot of things done. And that is how we got this $10 million."

Deputy Regional Administrator Tiffany Cobb, Columbia Field Office Director Kristine Foye, and Community Planning and Disaster Recovery Specialist Aaron Gagne also attended the event to celebrate the project. Community representatives included South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, Medical University of South Carolina President Dr. David Cole, and South Carolina Disaster Recovery Director Ben Duncan.

To learn more about HUD's CBDG-MIT program, click here.

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