Congress approved a three-month extension of current transportation programs and the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012 was signed by President Obama on March 30, extending the authority to make expenditures from the Highway Trust Fund for HTF-financed programs through June 30, 2012.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel put into action a $7 billion, three-year infrastructure program, Building a New Chicago, which is one of the largest investments in infrastructure in the city’s history. The program will touch nearly every aspect of the city’s infrastructure network and create more than 30,000 jobs over the next three years.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey and Acting Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Jonathan Davis announced their recommended proposal for closing the MBTA’s $185 million budget gap for next fiscal year.
The Transportation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees all transportation in the city, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), released proposals to balance the agency’s upcoming two-year budget. The proposals make a significant investment in maintenance that will increase Muni’s reliability, reduce overtime through adequate staffing and focus on key initiatives such as the Transit Effectiveness Project.
Granite Construction Incorporated, in a joint-venture with Old Pueblo Trackworks, comprising Granite and RailWorks Track Systems, has been awarded a $56 million contract by the city of Tucson, Airz., to build the first federally-funded streetcar project in more than 60 years. Granite will book its share, approximately $29 million, into backlog during the first quarter of 2012.
A groundbreaking in Osage, Mo., has taken place for a new railroad bridge that will eliminate one of the worst rail bottlenecks in the country. The $28 million project received $22.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program.
The Illinois Department of Transportation and Union Pacific will be upgrading Illinois’ high-speed route, Chicago-St. Louis, for future high-speed Amtrak trains, from April 16 through May 25. The improvements for 110-mph service include the installation of new premium rail with concrete crossties and ballast; upgrades to bridges, culverts and drainage; signal and wayside equipment installations and upgrades and roadway-rail grade crossing improvements.
The City of Charlotte, N.C., signed a lease agreement with Norfolk Southern Corporation, a move that will kick off construction of Charlotte’s new regional intermodal facility at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Once operational, the facility is expected to generate $9 billion in economic impact over the next 20 years.
The San Francisco Bay area Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved a regional agreement to fully fund the electrification of Caltrain on March 28 and is the first step in bringing modernized rail service to the region spanning San Francisco to San Jose.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Long Island Rail Road is expanding its Quiet Car pilot program to include all peak hour trains on the Far Rockaway Branch and select rush hour trains on the Hempstead, Long Beach and West Hempstead branches beginning Monday, April 2.
Canadian National sold two rail line segments in the Greater Toronto Area to Metrolinx for C$310.5 million (US$311.6 million).
GO Transit’s Richmond Hill commuter rail service operates over a portion of CN’s Bala Subdivision. Metrolinx is acquiring a segment of the subdivision from approximately Rosedale Valley Road north through the Don Valley to CN’s main east-west freight line north of Steeles Avenue near the Toronto-York Region border.
The Texas Fort Worth Transportation Authority’s TEX Rail commuter rail project has been approved by the Federal Transit Administration to advance to Preliminary Engineering.
The approval to enter PE will allow the authority to proceed with the engineering needed for construction.
Newly selected Honolulu Area for Rapid Transit CEO and Executive Director Daniel Grabauskas met with the head of the Federal Transit Administration and with Hawaii’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., to discuss the status of Honolulu’s rail project in preparation for receiving additional federal funds.
From the editors at Railway Age
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly has brokered a deal with Republican state legislative leaders to fully fund the last three years of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s five-year capital plan.
Leaders from the Transportation for Illinois Coalition (TFIC) and Regional Transportation Authority called on Congress to act now on extending national transportation funding ahead of a Friday deadline that, if missed, could put the region’s transportation system and entire economy in limbo.
A new report released by the U.S. Department of Treasury with the Council of Economic Advisers finds that now is the key time to invest in infrastructure to create middle-class jobs, increase long-term competitiveness and support a more secure energy future.
For Maryland Area Regional Commuter Train Service patrons, boarding and exiting trains at Union Station in Washington, D.C., has often meant long hikes, uncertainty and occasional delays as MARC train platforms were switched around from day to day to accommodate Amtrak trains.
Axion International received its first purchase order being shipped to Brazil. The order comes from one of the nation’s largest rail lines and is anticipated to be the first of many.
Amtrak is reaching a milestone in its efforts to replace the existing 104-year old Niantic River Bridge in East Lyme, Conn., with the float-in of the new bascule lift span to the new alignment south of the existing bridge.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new light-rail line between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City will open to the public on Saturday, April 28. This opening will be the segment from downtown Los Angeles to the Expo/La Cienega Station. Construction work continues on the Culver City station, which is expected to open later this summer.