The U.S. Department of Transportation failed to recommend that Oakland get $182.9 million in the initial round of funding for the city's Waterfront Mobility Project. Oakland has not received official word that it was denied the grant money.
The city has been securing dollars for the offsite infrastructure needed to support a new ballpark at the Charles P. Howard Terminal.
Fred Kelley, director of the Oakland Department of Transportation, said: "While we are disappointed to have not been selected in the first round, we believe we put forward a strong application and are well positioned to secure other funding sources.” He added that the city will continue to pursue other sources of funding.
Oakland applied for grant money through the Mega Grant Program, which funds "large, complex projects that are difficult to fund by other means and likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits."
The ballpark proposed by the Oakland A's would seat about 35,000 people, and the development overall consists of new housing, parkland, an entertainment venue and commercial space.
Not everyone wants the A's to build a new park at the Port of Oakland. Groups have come together in opposition, hoping to have the A's build a new park in East Oakland at the current Oakland Coliseum site.
