Groundbreaking for ARRA-funded Elizabethtown, Pa., Station

Written by jrood

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter broke ground on a $9.3-million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project to renovate the Elizabethtown, Pa., Amtrak station.

"The Recovery Act is
working in Pennsylvania as intended: It’s putting people to work right now,
while making long-term investments in our roads, bridges, transit systems, airports,
and seaports," Secretary LaHood said. "Thanks to the Recovery Act dollars, the
Elizabethtown station will receive critical improvements to meet the demands of
travelers who depend on Amtrak while generating good-paying jobs and boosting
the local economy."

"I am pleased that
stimulus funding is being used to advance important transportation and
infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania," Specter said. "Reconstruction of the
Elizabethtown rail station will benefit Amtrak riders and help sustain
increasing ridership along the Keystone Corridor."



In the past five years,
ridership at the Elizabethtown station has increased more than 93 percent, now
serving more than 80,000 passengers. Recovery Act funds will be used to
renovate the current Elizabethtown Amtrak station building, reconstruct and
triple the size of each rail platform, and provide other upgrades. Lobar, Inc.,
won the prime contract on the Elizabethtown project with a bid 11 percent below
initial budget estimates.

To date, the U.S.
Department of Transportation has obligated more than $25 billion in Recovery
Act funds nationwide for over 7,700 projects. Pennsylvania has already
obligated $1.1 billion to fund more than 272 approved transportation projects.

Tags: