It’s a done deal. Virginia
Beach, Va., will soon own the old rail line long coveted by some leaders as the
ideal spot for a future light-rail project,
The Virginian-Pilot reports. The
City Council on Sept. 14 voted unanimously to spend $40 million to buy a
10.6-mile corridor from railroad giant Norfolk Southern.
In response to questions
Amtrak has received regarding suspension of New Jersey Transit’s Access to the
Region’s Core (ARC) Tunnel Project, the following statement was issued today:
CSX Transportation is
putting in place new energy efficiency initiatives as part of its participation
in the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps, an innovative program in
which MBA student "fellows" work with leading companies to improve
energy efficiency.
The Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority is planning five weekends of Blue/Green line
closures to perform needed updates to the light rail train system. Replacement
buses will pick up and drop off riders at every station on both the Blue and
Green Lines on each of these weekends.
Bentley Systems,
Incorporated, said that the call for submissions for its 2011 Student Design
Competition is now open. University, college, community college, technical
school and high school students are invited to submit projects designed using
Bentley software, along with a short essay describing their work.
URS Corporation has
completed its acquisition of Scott Wilson Group plc, a London-based
infrastructure engineering and construction company. The addition of Scott Wilson expands URS’
international presence by adding a network of 80 offices around the world,
including offices in key regional centers such as London, Hong Kong, New Delhi,
Warsaw and Dubai, and more than 5,500 employees.
Officials broke ground on
the $53.5-million parking structure at the MBTA Wonderland Blue Line Station in
Revere, Mass. The project received $22.7 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act dollars earlier this year from the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration.
The Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority (VTA) said that a bid solicitation has been issued to
construct a pedestrian overcrossing alongside the south side of Blossom Hill
Road where it crosses Monterey Highway and Union Pacific tracks in south San
Jose, Calif.
Fifteen years after
Virginia Beach, Va., officials agreed that the city’s transportation future was
tied to the 66-foot-wide rail path between Norfolk and the resort area, the
City Council is poised to buy the right of way, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
Proponents of the $8.7-billion
trans-Hudson rail tunnel warned the 30-day suspension imposed on the massive
project could put its federal funding at risk, the Newark Star Ledger reports. At
the same time, some voiced concerns the project might be deliberately
sacrificed to pay for the nearly bankrupt New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund,
which supports state road and rail improvements – including the tunnel.
A brick-and-glass state
office building on the banks of Lake Monona, just a few blocks from the
Wisconsin Capitol and the rest of downtown Madison, shows no outward sign that
it has become the focal point of one of the most heated – and unexpected –
debates to divide this state’s Democrats and Republicans in a crucial election
year, the Stateline reports.
Citing a 1921 agreement,
city leaders in Martinsburg, W.Va., have asked CSX Transportation to help make
repairs to deteriorating walls and abutments around the North Queen Street
underpass bridge, The Herald-Mail reports.
Thunder, lightning and hail
from a fast-moving storm filled the late afternoon skies over Barre, Mass., and
provided an appropriate prelude to the chorus of complaints the Board of Health
would hear from abutters and neighbors of Wildwood Reload on South Barre Road,
the Worcester News Telegram reports.
New Jersey is temporarily
shutting down all new work and suspending additional contract bids on an $8.7-billion
railway tunnel to New York because federal officials say the project may go as
much as a billion dollars over budget – money New Jersey doesn’t have, The Star-Ledger
reports.
Japan said it’s ready to
loan California money to help pay for a planned high-speed railroad as
trainmakers compete to work on a project that will cost at least $40 billion,
according to Bloomberg. The state-owned Japan Bank for International
Cooperation is prepared to lend funds, Japan’s Transport Minister Seiji Maehara told
reporters in Tokyo after meeting with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He declined to comment on the size of the possible loan.
As soon as early next year,
the amount of freight rail traffic on the main line that runs through Pottstown,
Pa., is likely to increase, the Mercury reports. Also likely to increase is the
amount of tractor-trailer traffic in the vicinity of the former Bethlehem Steel
plant off Industrial Highway and South Keim Street.
New Long Island Rail Road
timetables in effect September 13, 2010 will contain schedule adjustments for
some trains as well as the elimination of other trains. The new schedules
implement the second phase of budget-related cuts in LIRR service that were
approved by the MTA Board in March. These service reductions along with those
implemented last May 17 were required as part of the effort to close the MTA’s
$900-million budget gap. The service reductions will save approximately $950,000
this year and $3.8-million annually starting in 2011. However, the LIRR will be
monitoring the changes in the new timetable and will make schedule adjustments,
as necessary, based on additional ridership and possible crowding on trains.
TriMet’s MAX Green Line in
Portland, Ore., turned one on September 12, with 6.1 million trips taken on the
line during its first year. The Green Line is the agency’s fifth MAX line to be
built, and added a new alignment in downtown Portland along the Portland
Transit Mall and new tracks between Gateway Transit Center and Clackamas Town
Center.
Illinois’ ongoing financial
crisis could thwart plans to expand the Metra line that runs through McHenry
County, Ill., the Northwest Herald reports. About $29 million in federal
funding has been earmarked to pay for the next step in improving the Union
Pacific Northwest line and three other commuter rail projects. But unless the
state can match those funds dollar for dollar, Metra will lose access to the
money.
Triangle Transit still
likes the idea, but there aren’t many cheerleaders left for a proposal to run
high-speed passenger trains through the Norfolk Southern freight yard along the
west side of Capital Boulevard, the Raleigh, N.C., News and Observer reports. Norfolk
Southern blasted that notion last week in a 17-page letter to the state
Department of Transportation.
