WASHINGTON — A piece of Chicago’s CREATE project and an element of California’s high speed rail construction are among the 11 recipients of Department of Transportation National Infrastructure Project Assistance, or Mega, grants announced today.
Also, the same CREATE project and infrastructure improvements on the Paducah & Louisville Railway are among the 36 projects selected for funding under DOT’s Infrastructure for Rebuildling America, or INFRA, grants program.
Several projects received grants under both programs, so a total of 44 projects received funding of more than $4.2 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Ten of those have at least some rail component.
Some $1.68 billion of the money awarded was under the Mega program, including the previously announced funding to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for its North Station Draw 1 Bridge replacement project [see “MBTA receives $472 million …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 25, 2024].
CREATE Project EW2A, which will reconfigure tracks at Belt Junction as part of the larger 75th Street Corridor Project, will receive a $209.9 million Mega grant ($9.9 million in fiscal 2025 and $200 million in fiscal 2026), along with an $81.3 million INFRA grant. The project will also add a third track for Norfolk Southern, replace and restore 14 bridges and viaducts, and improve surface-street mobility. More information is available at the CREATE website.
Also rail-related and receiving funding under both programs is Grand Avenue Improvement project in Phoenix. It will receive a $133.9 million INFRA grant and $12.7 million from the Mega program. Mostly a road project rebuilding the intersection of U.S. Route 60 (Grand Avenue), 35th Avenue, and Indian School Road, it includes new bridges over BNSF tracks.
The other rail-related Mega grant is $54.53 million for a high-speed rail station in Madera, Calif. The project involves relocating Madera’s Amtrak station and improvements including a new building and platforms, track work, a bus depot, expanded parking, and access roads.
Other rail-related INFRA grants include:
— $33.8 million for improvements on the 280-mile Paducah & Louisville including upgrading 180,000 linear feet of rail; traffic-control upgrades between Louisville and Gilbertsville; installation of a wheel truing system at the Paducah roundhouse; and rehabilitation of five bridges.
— $26 million for improvements to the U.S. Route 93 corridor in Wickenburg, Ariz. The road project includes a new two-lane bridge over BNSF Railway tracks with a pedestrian walkway.
— $138 million for the Interstate 494 E-ZPass project in Minneapolis, Minn. The project adding E-ZPass lanes also includes replacement of a railroad bridge over I-494 between Lyndale and Nicollet avenues.
— $20 million for improvements on U.S. Route 52 in North Dakota. The project between Carrington and Portal, N.D., includes adding acceleration and deceleration lanes at existing railroad grade crossings.
— $80 million for the Alliance, Texas, Inland Port project, which will involve construction of approximately 15 miles of State Route 170/Intermodal Parkway Smart Connected Corridor to connect a BNSF intermodal terminal with warehousing and distribution facilities.
— The previously reported $25 million for the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port project at Coos Bay, Ore. [see “Coos Bay, Ore., port receives grant …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 19, 2024].
The full list of Mega grant awards is available here while the full list of INFRA grants is here.
$$$ for adding an EZ Pass lane on 494 in Bloomington MN, Why?? The existing EZ pass lanes in the area are open to all traffic since Covid due to less rush hr traffic. The 494/35W interchange near there has been under construction for a decade there is no solution to a bottleneck just as adding lanes does not solve traffic congestion!
This is all very well and good but I’m getting to that point where I cannot be certain if I will live to see this completed.
Why are we still pouring federal tax money into CalHSR? Au contraire, we should be DEMANDING the return of all federal tax money that has previously disappeared into that corrupt cesspool. Put all the tax money into Chicago CREATE where it will do good for this nation.
Charles, the City of Chicago demanded the railroads elevate their lines back in 1912 and even that didnt get finished over a 100 years later.
80th street to 75th street through Rock Island and Belt Junctions has always been a spaghetti nightmare to operate through. These infrastructure projects will provide for much more fluid train movements. I only wish that they could have been completed 20 years ago so I could have experienced them myself. One drawback: the 75th street flyover will require eastbound trains to have more power.
Well, I went to the CREATE website and found everything I wanted.
Congrats to the CREATE team on securing these grants!
Yes, a great win. It would be interesting to see an update on the entire CREATE project to see what is finished, what is underway, what is in planning and what remains to be addressed.