Red flags for high-speed rail






President Barack Obama’s
push for high-speed passenger trains raises concerns about crowded rails
slowing freight carriers like Union Pacific and BNSF, the Omaha World-Herald
reports. This year, the administration committed $8 billion out of the $787
billion economic stimulus package and added $2.3 billion in the fiscal 2010
budget as down payments on a high-speed rail program that could cost hundreds
of billions of dollars. The plan is to reduce America’s dependence on oil,
reduce traffic on highways and eliminate harmful exhaust emissions from
millions of cars.

Chicago area bridge repair project causes delays






Metra’s massive
bridge-rebuilding project on the Union Pacific North Line between Chicago and
Kenosha, Wis., got off to a rough start August 23 as commuters got tangled in a
new train schedule complicated by crew mistakes, the Chicago Tribune reports. Delays
and confusion were common complaints as commuters crammed aboard trains, with
some riders inadvertently boarding late-running trains that didn’t make
expected stops.

Illinois port district plans to add new rail line near McKinley Bridge






The Tri-City Regional
Port District will construct an additional 9,600 feet of track for a new rail
line at the port’s southern harbor near the McKinley Bridge, as part of an
overall expansion of the port, the Belleville, Ill., News-Democrat reports.

Amtrak landscape revitalization plan along tracks in Woodside, Queens, N.Y.






With extensive input from
the community, Amtrak is carrying out a $460,000 plan to restore and revitalize
with trees, shrubs and fencing a section of its right-of-way along the
Northeast Corridor in Woodside, Queens, N.Y. Amtrak has hired a Landscape
Horticulturist to assist in the selection and planting of approximately 600 new
trees and shrubs, which the railroad will warranty and maintain for one year.

Iowa homeowners, BNSF work on mudslide solution






 

It has been about five
months since mudslides pushed trees and soil down the bluffs along the
Blackhawk Heights and High Points subdivisions in eastern Iowa, and residents
are still trying to find a way to stabilize their properties, The Hawk Eye
reports.

Daniel Carson, P.E., joins Urban Engineers, Inc.






Daniel Carson,
P.E., has been hired by Urban Engineers, Inc. as Cost Estimating Practice Leader.
Carson brings 38 years of professional experience, including proprietorship of
his own firm, Daniel Carson Consulting Engineer, in Framingham, Mass. Prior to
that, he was president and senior project manager for DMC Engineering, Inc. During
his 25 years at DMC, he led all activities involving cost estimating and
constructability. Carson has also served as a project manager for Peabody NE,
Inc. and chief engineer and project superintendent for Eastern Seaboard Construction
Engineering, Inc.

U.S. DOT completes agreement to help revitalize Appalachian shortline






The U.S. Department of
Transportation has completed an agreement that will help fund West Virginia’s
portion of the Appalachian Regional Short Line Rail project, U.S.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. The project, receiving a $1.77-million
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, includes upgrades to crossties,
highway-rail grade crossings and bridges.





TriMet puts final touches on station design project in Gresham






TriMet in the Portland,
Ore., area is nearing completion on work to improve safety and security at the
Gresham Central MAX station. This pilot project-the first of its kind in the
TriMet system-includes installation of barrier railing. The project also
includes improved lighting and making the platforms a fare zone. This change
allows fare inspection to occur on the platform rather than after riders board
the train. Other work at the station includes painting the shelters and
pedestrian enhancements that help orient riders to be more alert to approaching
trains.

Clinton, Iowa, celebrates railport with groundbreaking ceremony






It was a hammer instead of
a shovel that ushered in the groundbreaking of the Lincolnway Railport on August
20, the Clinton Herald reports. With Iowa Gov. Chet Culver and Union Pacific
Railroad CEO Jim Young taking the first swing at a ceremonial
rail spike, the multi-million dollar project celebrated the end of its long
planning stage and entered in the first phase of construction.

Study: Port of Vancouver, Wash., rail plan needs $75 million






A new study of the Port
of Vancouver’s signature project – a planned 27-mile expansion of rail tracks
to speed cargo and handle more of it – says the port will have to borrow as
much as $75 million to cover a shortfall and should adopt plans to avoid cost
overruns, The Columbian reports.

Montreal’s Côte-Sainte-Catherine métro station reopens






Société de transport de
Montréal informed its clients that Côte-Sainte-Catherine métro station would
again be accessible as of Monday, August 23, as planned, after 14 weeks of
major renovations work. These had become necessary to ensure the station’s
integrity and will considerably extend the building’s service life.

Louisiana senator seeks millions for new railroad district






The upcoming week is a
big one for Vermilion Parish, La., and the rail system that cuts right through
it. Local media report. Sen. Nick Gautreaux recently passed Senate Bill 395,
which creates the Vermilion and Iberia Railroad Development District.

Union Station Metrorail station elevators to undergo rehabilitation work






Washington, D.C., Metro
will modernize both the platform to mezzanine and the mezzanine to the Union
Station level elevators inside the Union Station Metrorail station beginning
Tuesday, Aug. 31, to return the units to a state of good repair and to ensure
service reliability and safety. 



Transit hub in Normal, Ill., to be ready next summer






The community of Normal,
Ill., expects to have a four-story, $43.2-million transportation hub open
downtown in time for the first high-speed trains between St. Louis and Chicago
next summer, the State Journal-Register reports.

L.A. Metro to update community on the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2






Metro in the Los Angeles
area will hold two public meetings September 1 and 2 to update the public on
the environmental study that is evaluating two possible alternatives, which
would connect the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension to cities further east of
Los Angeles by light transit rail.

UI visit gives official insight into pavement, rail research






A top-ranking U.S. transportation
official visited Rantoul, Ill., recently to see what the University of Illinois
has been cooking up in pavement and high-speed rail research, the Champaign-Urbana
News-Gazette reports. Peter Appel, the U.S.
administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, toured
the 60,000-square-foot facility known as UI’s Advanced Transportation Research
and Engineering Laboratory located on the former Chanute Air Force Base.

Work on five Medina, Ohio, crossings will be completed by month’s end






The Wheeling and Lake
Erie Railway Company will replace five railroad-crossing surfaces within the
city of Medina this month, the Sun News reports. Crossings at S. Elmwood Ave.,
S. Huntington St., W. Smith Rd., S. Prospect St., and Medina St. will each be
upgraded. During construction stretches, roads will be closed near the railroad
tracks.

State approves funds to improve rail safety throughout Washington State






State regulators approved
funds to improve the safety of 165 railroad crossings throughout Washington State.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) approved $35,250
from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund (GCPF) for BNSF to replace or install
yield or stop signs, wood posts with retro-reflective tape, retro-reflective
cross buck signs and emergency notification signs statewide. The UTC also
approved $6,000 from the GCPF for Pend Oreille Valley Railroad to make the same
improvements to 24 crossings in Pend Oreille County.

ADM expansion requires CRANDIC to add track






The completion of ADM’s
new $540-million dry mill ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has created a
need for more railroad track, KCRG-TV reports. The CRANDIC Railway began
construction this month of a new 9,000-foot track that will go from Old Bridge
Road to just east of Fairfax, CRANDIC Marketing Manager Jeff Woods said.

In Chicago, new RTA leader calls for more public-private partnerships






John Gates Jr., a
successful businessman named August 19 as the new chairman of the Regional
Transportation Authority in the Chicago area, acknowledges he has a steep
learning curve ahead of him about buses and trains, but he intends to use his
financial expertise to bring more private-sector involvement into mass transit,
the Chicago Tribune reports.

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