CREATE receives $133 million for 63rd and State Flyover

February 14, 2001 The CREATE Partners said that the CREATE Program will receive $133 million as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a critical rail/rail flyover near 63rd and State Streets in the Englewood community on the south side of Chicago. The flyover will carry the north-south Metra Rock Island commuter rail line over the east-west Norfolk Southern/Amtrak line, eliminating conflict between 78 Metra Rock Island trains and approximately 60 freight and Amtrak trains that presently cross at grade each day.

The $133-million
CREATE-related grant was part of a larger $1.2-billion federal award to bring
high-speed passenger rail service to Illinois by 2014.

Illinois’ high-speed rail
signature route, Chicago to St. Louis, will receive $1.1 billion for corridor
improvements. Improvements to this 284-mile route will allow passenger rail
service to operate at speeds up to 110 mph, reducing the total trip time from
Chicago to St. Louis by over an hour. The improvements include an overhaul of
track, signal systems and existing stations as well as the implementation of
state-of-the-art train control technology that will improve train safety. In
addition, Illinois will receive $1.25 million to complete an environmental
impact study for a second track along the same route.

Thanks to multi-state
steering group, Illinois will benefit from awards to several other neighboring
states that make up the Chicago Hub Network. The region received a total of
$2.6 billion – more than any other regional network. The network is designed to
connect cities throughout the region to Chicago with reliable high-speed and
conventional intercity rail service.

The Federal Railroad
Administration received 259 grant applications from 37 states and the District
of Columbia requesting nearly $57 billion in funding – far exceeding the
initial $8 billion available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009. In total, 79 applications from 31 States were selected for funding.