Texas leaders to try again to fix Tower 55 crossing

The effort to fix a dangerous and congested rail intersection near downtown Fort Worth known as Tower 55 may finally be on track, the Ft. Worth Star Telegram reports. Texas Department of Transportation officials said that they would formally endorse an application for federal funding for the Tower 55 project, a $93.7-million proposal to modernize crossings often used by children on the way to school.

The proposal also calls for
adding a third north-south crossing at Tower 55 and about 9,000 feet of new
track, to reduce congestion in an area where railcars carrying hazardous
materials such as chlorine often pass.

It will be the second time
in a year that the federal funding has been pursued for Tower 55. Last year the
state decided not to endorse specific projects, leaving it to local officials
to apply for federal dollars. The so-called TIGER funds were awarded in a
nationwide competition to projects considered crucial for economic recovery.

But the state’s inaction
proved to be a strategic error as the Tower 55 project — which was listed as
the state’s highest-priority rail need and seemed to meet all the federal
criteria for TIGER dollars — did not receive funding when grants were announced
in February.

"Tower 55 will
re-emerge as the top priority rail project in the state, and this time the
state of Texas is the applicant for the funds," said Texas Transportation
Commissioner Bill Meadows of Fort Worth.

The commission, which
oversees the Transportation Department, is expected to officially endorse Tower
55 and a handful of other projects during a special meeting June 8 in Austin. Other
candidate projects include a Gulf Coast freight rail line, the South Orient
rail line near San Angelo and port projects in Brownsville and Corpus Christi.

This time, the funding
being sought is known as TIGER II. About $600 million is being made available
nationwide for projects that improve the existing transportation grid,
contribute to economic competitiveness and foster livable communities,
according to U.S. Transportation Department criteria.

Highway projects are
eligible for the federal funding, but rail projects may be given priority, a
state official said.

"We’ve been focusing a
lot of attention on non-road projects, especially rail and ports," said
John Barton, assistant executive director of the state Transportation
Department.

The Tower 55 project will
include about $32 million in matching funds from BNSF and Union Pacific
railroads. Those companies offered matching funds in the original application,
and they have renewed their commitment to contribute funds to the Tower 55
project, said Bill Glavin, the state Transportation Department’s rail division
director.

Efforts to secure funds for
Tower 55 improvements have been unfruitful at the state level as well. Last
year, the Legislature took steps to infuse a voter-created rail relocation fund
with up to $182 million to initiate a decades-long process of moving busy
freight corridors out of populated cities such as Fort Worth.

But that effort remains
stalled because of a dispute among officials from the state Transportation
Department, the comptroller’s office and lawmakers about whether budgetary
requirements to transfer the funds have been met.

A Texas attorney general’s
opinion about how the funds should be accounted for in the state’s budget was
released this week and is still being studied.

The Tower 55 project would
include construction of a pedestrian underpass at Peach Street, just east of Samuels
Avenue, where students at nearby Nash Elementary often cross the busy BNSF
tracks. Underpasses at Gounah Street and Cold Springs Road would be upgraded.

This year, the Regional
Transportation Council voted to contribute $2.5 million to start the engineering
on the Tower 55 project. Once the engineering is done, the project will be
ready to go — if the necessary construction funding arrives.