EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
The Biden administration is handing out more than $570 million in grants to help eliminate railroad crossings in 32 states just as the industry is increasingly relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs.
The grants announced Monday will help eliminate more than three dozen crossings that delay traffic and sometimes keep first responders from where help is desperately needed.
There have been examples of ambulance delays resulting in a death and homes burning down while firefighters wait at a blocked crossing. In addition, roughly 2,000 collisions are reported at railroad crossings every year. Nearly 250 deaths were recorded last year in those car-train crashes.
These grants are part of a $3 billion program approved as part of the $1 trillion infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed in 2021. That money will be handed out over five years.
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Dozens of dangerous rail crossings will be eliminated with $570 million in grants
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WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?
The following is a list of projects receiving funding. Most of the grants are for planning or smaller improvements at crossings. But more than 30 projects will eliminate crossings, and some eliminate several crossings. Find more details on each project here.
Alabama - City of Calera State Road 25 Railway-Highway Grade Separation Project (Up To $11,742,184)
Alabama - Railroad crossing elimination on Shelby County Road 52 (Up To $41,766,038) City of Pelham
Arkansas – Northwest Arkansas Rail Corridor Safety Study (Up To $576,000) City of Fayetteville
California – Hargrave Grade Separation Planning Project (Up To $2,800,000) City of Banning
California – Grade Separation at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive and Charleston Road (Up To $6,000,000) City of Palo Alto
California – Third Street Grade Separation Project (Up To $15,000,000) City of Riverside
California – Los Angeles County Rail Crossing Elimination Master Plan (Up To $600,160) Los Angeles County
California – Sierra Highway Crossing Elimination Planning Project (Up To $704,000) Los Angeles County
California – Doran Street Grade Separation Project (Up To $38,300,000) Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
California – San Diego At-Grade Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $1,096,800) San Diego Association of Governments
Colorado – Comprehensive Planning Study to Eliminate Two At-Grade Highway- Rail Crossings on US 34 (Up To $700,000) Colorado Department of Transportation
Delaware – CSXT Railroad Corridor Safety Improvements (Up To $1,600,000) Delaware Department of Transportation
Florida – Broward County Sealed Corridor Project (Up To $15,440,000) Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization
Florida – City of Fort Lauderdale Railroad Safety and Congestion Analysis (Up To $280,000) City of Fort Lauderdale
Florida – Building BRIDGES Planning Study - West Palm Beach Florida East Coast Rail Corridor Safety Action Plan (Up To $320,000) City of West Palm Beach
Georgia – Chatham Multimodal Community Improvement Project (Up To $1,870,000) Chatham County
Georgia – Conversion of At-Grade Crossing on Constitution Road to Grade Separated Crossing (Up To $460,460) DeKalb County
Georgia – Feasibility Study for Railroad Crossing Eliminations (Up To $888,000) Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners
Idaho – SH-53 Pleasant View Grade Separation Project (Up To $36,000,000) Idaho Department of Transportation
Illinois – Brush College Road and Faries Parkway Grade Separation Project (Up To $16,000,000) City of Decatur
Illinois – Village of Franklin Park Grade Separation Project - Connect Franklin Park: Bridging Barriers and Creating Opportunities (Up To $8,000,000) Village of Franklin Park
Indiana – Governors Parkway Railroad Overpass Project (Up To $7,029,392) City of Hammond
Indiana – Buffington Harbor Gateway Project (Up To $4,500,000) City of Gary
Indiana – Peru Grade Separation Feasibility Study (Up To $76,000) City of Peru
Indiana – Kennedy Avenue Railroad Overpass Project (Up To $8,452,558) Town of Schererville
Indiana – Wells County Hoosier Highway Crossing Elimination Project (Up To $1,114,261) Wells County
Iowa – South Concord Street Grade Separation (Up To $7,756,862) City of Davenport
Kansas – Corridor Improvement Project Involving 15 Street Crossings with BNSF Railroad within City of Emporia (Up To $601,000) City of Emporia
Kansas – 119th Street, Woodland to Northgate - BNSF Separation and Crossing Elimination Safety Improvement Project (Up To $17,987,495) City of Olathe
Kansas – Grade Crossing Closures and Construction of Grade-Separated Highway Overpass on the BNSF Southern Transcon Main Line (Up To $8,864,725) City of Wellington
Maryland – Warner Street Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Project (Up To $1,534,280) MDOT - Maryland Transit Administration
Michigan – West Side Grade Separation Project (Up To $23,964,400) City of Monroe
Michigan – Manistee County Safer Southern Rail Route (Up To $424,000) Manistee County
Minnesota – TH 27/Mississippi River Bridge Grade Separation (Up To $3,200,000) City of Little Falls
Minnesota – CSAH 55 Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Elimination Project (Up To $4,824,563) Kandiyohi County
Minnesota – Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations: Planning Study for Future of Severely Humped Highway/BNSF Rail Grade Crossings for Closure, Consolidation or Improvements. (Up To $480,000) Minnesota Department of Transportation
Missouri – Kansas City Riverfront Rail Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $2,000,000) Port Authority of Kansas City
Montana – Whitefish Rail Corridor Crossing Study (Up To $400,000) City of Whitefish
North Carolina – Durham Rail-Crossing Engagement, Planning, and Innovative Revitalization (Durham REPAIR) (Up To $1,220,000) Durham County Government
North Dakota – 42nd Street Grade Separation Project to Improve Efficiency, Connectivity, Equity, and Safety (PIECES) (Up To $30,000,000) North Dakota Department of Transportation
New Mexico – Santa Teresa At-Grade Separation (Up To $31,171,088) County of Dona Ana
New York – New York State Fairgrounds Crossing Consolidation Project (Up To $11,008,000) New York State Department of Transportation
Ohio – Symmes Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $3,000,000) Butler County Transportation Improvement District
Ohio – Unlocking the Iron Triangle: Grade Separation of S Town Street, Fostoria, Ohio (Up To $7,245,000) Ohio Rail Development Commission
Oregon – Reed Market Grade Separation Project Development (Up To $1,050,000) City of Bend
Oregon – Central Eastside Railroad Crossing Study (Up To $500,000) City of Portland
Pennsylvania – CSX/SEPTA Grade Crossing Elimination Study – A Study to Alleviate Congestion and Enhance Community Safety (Up To $375,000) Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Pennsylvania – Redevelopment Authority of the County of Berks Project to Upgrade and Refurbish At-Grade Crossings and Bridges (Up To $16,063,596) Redevelopment Authority of the County of Berks
South Carolina – The Florence Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement Planning Project (Up To $60,000) City of Florence
Tennessee – 3rd St SE and Norfolk Southern Railroad Grade Separation (Up To $27,483,694) City of Cleveland
Texas – NE 24th Avenue Railroad Overpass (Up To $8,425,000) City of Amarillo
Texas – Rittiman Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $4,886,512) City of San Antonio
Texas – US 90 Grade Separation Project (Up To $19,550,000) Texas Department of Transportation
Texas – Haslet-Fort Worth-Saginaw Corridor Bonds Ranch Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $17,187,552) Texas Department of Transportation
Texas – West Belt Improvement Project (Phase 1) (Up To $36,916,200) City of Houston
Utah – Bluffdale Pedestrian Overpass Project (Up To $3,232,000) City of Bluffdale
Virginia – DC2RVA Rural Crossings Safety Improvements Project (Up To $3,200,000) Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
Washington – Railroad Overcrossing Planning and Design (Up To $2,000,000) City of Burlington
Washington – S. Holgate St At-Grade Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $2,000,000) City of Seattle
Washington – 32nd Street Underpass Project (Up To $40,480,000) City of Washougal
Wisconsin – Galloway Street Vehicular and Pedestrian Rail Crossing Eliminations and Construction of Galloway St. Rail Overpass (Up To $9,999,600) City of Eau Claire
West Virginia – Studying for the Potential Elimination of Existing At-Grade Rail Crossing on 19th Street in Parkersburg. (Up To $96,000) City of Parkersburg
West Virginia – West Virginia Crossing Safety Action Plan Implementation (Up To $480,000) West Virginia Department of Transportation
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RESOURCES
— The Transportation Department release announcing the grants is available here
— Additional information about the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program can be found here
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PUBLISHABLE CONTEXT
The major freight railroads have overhauled their operations in recent years to cut costs. Part of how they have done that is to rely on increasingly longer trains, so they can carry the same freight with fewer crews and locomotives. Trains now routinely stretch more than 2 miles long.
Workers say the long trains railroads favor are harder to operate as they cross over uneven terrain because parts of the train may be going uphill while other parts are going downhill. Rail unions also say longer trains are more likely to derail because of those competing forces, but the railroads have defended the practice and they say longer trains are safe.
But federal regulators cautioned earlier this year that railroads have to take special care in the way they assemble long trains to help minimize the forces within the train.
The Federal Railroad Administration stopped short of recommending in an April safety advisory that railroads limit the size of their trains. However, they did suggest a number of precautions including making sure engineers know how to handle them and that locomotives don’t lose communication with devices at the end of trains that can help trigger the brakes in an emergency.
In addition to concerns about the way cars on long trains push and pull against each other long trains also block more crossings, which creates delays for drivers and can keep emergency responders from reaching someone who needs their help quickly. Also, pedestrians may risk their lives by crawling under or through stopped trains that could start moving without warning.
States that proposed limits on train size this year include Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada and Washington although Nevada's governor just vetoed a bill to do that last week.
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LOCAL REPORTING TIPS
— Talk to your local police and fire departments about how delays at railroad crossings have affected their responses to emergencies
— Check whether parts of your city are cut off from police and fire stations by railroad crossings.
— Talk with commuters about how delays at railroad crossings impact them and how long they spend waiting for trains to cross an intersection.
— Ask city officials about how many hours a day railroad crossings are blocked by train traffic in your city
