Three Additional Projects Approved for Ohio Grade Crossing Elimination Program
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
ORDC
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Rail Development Commission approved three additional projects for the Ohio Grade Crossing Elimination Program.
According to the announcement, the $100 million program was created to assist communities across Ohio compete for grade crossing elimination grant funding from the FRA‘s Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) program. In January of this year, another project was approved for the program.
These projects involve eliminating one at-grade crossing and construction a grade separation. With the completion of the projects, service times for emergency services will be improved as well as safer bus routes. The projects listed below were submitted to the FRA for grants:
- City of Circleville: S. Court Street
- City of North Ridgeville: Race Road
- Delaware County: E. Orange Road
- City of Hudson: Hines Hill Road
Ohio Rail Development Commission Chair Scott Corbett said, “The Rail Commission has already approved over $25 million in funding from the Ohio Grade Crossing Elimination Program. Staff has been hard at work and just recently submitted four grant applications to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). We hope to hear from the FRA regarding decisions by the end of the year. If we are successful with all the applications currently before the FRA, the state will win nearly $107 million in federal funding for a total of five grade separations around Ohio. But we are not just waiting, we are already working on an additional 13 locations for potential federal grants in the future. A grade separation is the only way to truly eliminate the possibility of train/auto crashes.”
