Texas receives close to $50 million in federal funds for Tower 55, HSR projects
Written by jrood
The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated nearly $50 million in rail investments to bolster both passenger and freight service through the state and jumpstart planning for high-speed rail between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. A $34 million TIGER II grant will fund major rail improvements on the Tower 55 project in Fort Worth, Texas and reduce traffic delays by 100,000 hours per year. The Tower 55 project will alleviate congestion at one of the busiest railroad intersections in the United States, where 10 freight and passenger rail routes converge and carry more than 100 trains per day. The high volume of trains currently results in lengthy delays for area commuters and passengers, which will be greatly reduced thanks to these rail upgrades. In addition, the U.S. DOT approved a $15 million high-speed rail grant for Texas that will jumpstart engineering and environmental work on a high-speed rail corridor linking two of the largest metro areas in the U.S., Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston. "Through our robust public-private partnership with state, local and industry partners on the Tower 55 project, we're eliminating a longstanding bottleneck for freight rail, creating capacity to handle future rail demand as our population grows and strengthening the foundation for economic development across the region," said U.S. Transportatio Secretary Ray LaHood. In addition to the U.S. DOT's investment, the City of Ft. Worth, the Texas Department of Transportation, BNSF and Union Pacific are providing funding to help install new signaling, bridge upgrades, a third track line and improved street and pedestrian crossings. Once complete, rail capacity will increase by more than 30 percent, making it more efficient for rail freight shippers and improve commuter rail reliability and performance. "Tower 55 is a crossroads of the North American continent," said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. "This project will allow the Tower to go from a legacy chokepoint to the model of a freight and passenger checkpoint, a facility featuring efficiency, safety and convenience." The Tower 55 project will create approximately 900 jobs and provide greater safety with reduced delays for motorists and pedestrians at area highway-rail crossings and bridges. With decreased train delays and blocked crossings, the project will achieve a projected 1.9 million ton reduction in carbon emissions from idling locomotives and automobiles. Construction is expected to begin in early 2012. In addition to the $34 million TIGER II grant, the project will be funded with matching contributions, including: $1 million from TxDOT; $1 million from the City of Ft. Worth and $65 million from BNSF and UP.
