Federal and state
officials joined representatives of the Town of Normal and Amtrak to
ceremonially break ground for a Multimodal Transportation Center that will
serve as a station for Amtrak rail and motor coach passengers, local transit
buses and will include a multi-level parking structure.
A routine federal
requirement that’s intended to preserve historic sites threatens to delay some
economic stimulus projects around the country, McClatchy Newspapers report. Federally-funded
projects that could affect sites with historic value are required to undergo
reviews that consider ways to minimize disturbance of the sites. Projects
funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are no different. In some
cases, that’s meant delays in getting crucial stimulus projects out the door,
and therefore in pumping stimulus dollars into the economy.
Canadian
Pacific is joining the procession of railroad facility developments to handle
freight shipments for the area’s emerging natural-gas drilling industry, the
Times-Tribune reports. Canadian Pacific, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is
developing a transload facility at its Taylor yard to process sand for
Marcellus Shale natural gas development, CP spokesman Mike LoVecchio said.
Construction on a
multimodal transportation center for the City of Trinidad, Colo., is currently
expected to begin in summer or fall next year, the Trinidad Times independent
reports. The planned center, to be owned by the city but operated by the South
Central Council of Governments (COG), will allow ingress and egress from the
city by train and bus and to COG’s local transportation system.
The Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail
Development Commission directing Norfolk Southern to upgrade a railroad
crossing Seneca County, the Advertiser Tribune reports. Norfolk Southern will
install mast-mounted flashing lights and roadway gates at the Reedtown Road/TR
126 grade crossing.
Metra released the final
version of a new schedule for the Union Pacific North line between Chicago and
Kenosha, Wis., that will take effect on August 22. The schedule is being
changed because a major, $185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line
on the north side of Chicago will require trains to use a single track in the
construction zone.
Ottawa has come through
with some much-needed cash for track improvements to keep the Huron Central
Railway rolling, Northern Ontario Business reports. Sault Ste. Marie MP Tony
Martin has confirmed from federal Transportation Minister John Baird that $15
million earmarked for the northeastern Ontario shortline railway is on its way.
Preparations for
improvement of Union Pacific Railroad tracks used by Amtrak south of
Springfield will prompt two daily Lincoln Service trains to originate and
terminate in Springfield for 10 days, starting August 7. Alternate
transportation will be provided to and from points south to St. Louis for
Trains 303 & 304.
Metra and Alderman Gene
Schulter (47th) are pleased to announce that Metra is ready to move forward
with building a bigger and better Ravenswood Station at its current location on
the Union Pacific North Line. The station overhaul is part of a major
$185-million project to replace 22 bridges on the line.
The five Members of the
National Transportation Safety Board will meet the board of directors of the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on Monday, August 9, at
2:30 p.m. at the WMATA headquarters building, 600 Fifth Street, N.W. in Washington,
D.C.
It became clearer that the
state’s high-speed train will run above ground in the Peninsula and South Bay
— including on so-called "Berlin Walls" that some cities fear will
divide their communities and demolish homes and businesses, the San Mateo
(Calif.) County Times reports.
North Charleston, S.C.,
Mayor Keith Summey said it’s urgent the city move forward on its own railroad
plan because the state and just about everyone else with a stake in the new
port terminal is dragging their feet or will never act in the city’s interests,
The Post and Courier reports.
Transportation authorities
in Delaware and Maryland soon will begin studying the possibility of a new
passenger rail line that would run north and south through the First State, The
News Journal reports.
The Maryland Transit
Administration said that Amtrak’s project to replace concrete railroad ties on
the MARC Train Penn Line is proceeding on schedule. Work has been completed
from New Carrollton to north of Halethorpe. As work moves to a new section, the
MARC Train Penn Line schedule will be modified to allow trains to move through
the work area.
New timetables are
available in MARC stations and on-line at www.mta.maryland.gov, but the MTA urges all MARC riders to be aware of
the changes that take effect August 9, 2010.
Businesses
in Grand Forks, B.C., are looking to the city to rescue the Kettle Falls
railway – it’s a question of survival. A recent presentation from the
stakeholder group to the City of Grand Forks proposed that the solution would
be for the city to either purchase the line, or invest in the needed
infrastructure upgrades, or both, The Boundary Sentinel reports.
Construction of the new
parking structure at BART’s Richmond, Calif., Station has begun. The remainder
of the parking lot between 15th and 16th Street on the west side of the station
will be closed starting on Monday August 16th. The bus stop, passenger
drop-off, taxi stand and accessible parking will remain open. Assisted parking
in the parking lot on the east side of the station will provide replacement
parking during the construction.
On or around August 25,
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project crews will dramatically shift the eastbound
lanes south into parking lots of car dealers and other retailers from the Best
Buy area west to the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) interchange. This shift will
create the large construction zone that is needed in the median of Route 7 to
build the future Tysons West Metrorail Station. This change involves both the
Westwood Center Drive/Tyco Road and Spring Hill Road intersections where
pedestrians and drivers will need to pay special attention to new lane patterns
and the wider Route 7 crosswalks.
L.B. Foster Company Pittsburgh,
Pa., was awarded a $5.3-million contract by the Northern New England Passenger
Rail Authority (NNEPRA) to supply 5,561 tons of rail for the
Downeaster-Portland North Project. NNEPRA is using a $35-million grant from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help fund the project’s 26.4-mile
track rehabilitation and expansion between Portland and Brunswick, Maine. The
new Downeaster line will offer improved Amtrak service within the area and
south to Boston.
Work on railroad crossings
and rail lines near downtown Fort Worth, Texas, could begin as soon as spring
if the Tower 55 project is awarded federal funding, officials told the
Star-Telegram. Officials from Fort Worth-based BNSF and Omaha, Neb.-based Union
Pacific appeared cautiously optimistic that the project will make the cut for
federal transit grants. A decision is expected in Washington in the fall.
Generators drown out the
quiet, slow moving Elkhorn River these days. It’s a dramatic difference from
the roaring, rushing water as Norfolk, Neb., flooded in June, local media report.