BART began running on
schedule again March 29 between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill, Calif., after
weekend work on a major construction project that involved removing and
installing 1,200 feet of rail weighing some four million pounds in under 48 hours.
Federal aid alone won’t
pay for meaningful highway projects these days, U.S. Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood said Monday during a visit to the Chicago suburbs, the Daily Herald
reports. Instead, tolls and public-private partnerships in addition to
government funding are the wave of the future when it comes to transportation
improvements, he noted.
"Public-private
partnerships, tolling, the highway trust fund … a combination of these things
and we’ll get there. But right now we’re trying to find the path forward,"
LaHood said, while at a stop in Barrington, Ill.
The Peoria Republican
returned to Illinois to meet with U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a Barrington
Democrat, and local leaders to talk about transportation needs and tour several
controversial railroad crossings.
The Canadian National
Railway’s purchase of the smaller EJ&E railroad to relieve congestion on
some of its busier tracks is opposed by Barrington and other towns along the
line because of traffic and safety concerns.
Although opponents are
suing to overturn federal regulators’ 2008 decision permitting the merger,
"it’s reality," LaHood said of the acquisition.
The pending surface
transportation bill, a multi-year funding program for roads and transit, will
provide critical assistance for projects across the country when it is passed,
LaHood said.
"I think the region
should look to the next transportation bill as an opportunity to solve some of
these big transportation issues," he said.
But the secretary noted
that finding the cash to finance the program is a challenge, particularly given
the depleted state of the highway trust fund, which is funded largely by
gasoline taxes and has had to receive emergency allocations from Congress.
"It’s deficient
because people drive less and drive more efficient cars," LaHood said.
And given that President
Obama opposes raising the gas tax in the current economic climate, "we’ve
got to be creative and think outside the box," when it comes to funding
the surface transportation bill, LaHood said.
Touring EJ&E railroad
crossings with LaHood was productive, Barrington Mayor Karen Darch said, adding
the village will continue its legal fight against the U.S. Surface
Transportation Board’s ruling.
"One likely scenario
is that the court could remand it back to the board for further environmental
review that could lead to further mitigation," she said.
Ontario’s plan to save $4
billion by postponing the construction of Greater Toronto Area transit
infrastructure was met with uncertainty by various industry stakeholders, the
Daily Commercial News And Construction Record reports.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers warns that legal disputes over property access needed to build
levees, floodwalls and gates in eastern New Orleans could mean that area won’t
get 100-year protection by the promised June 1, 2011, deadline, says an
editorial in The Times-Picayune.
Supporters of a railroad
in northern Maine and a deep-water pier in southern Maine told lawmakers that
state money is needed to retain jobs and boost tourism, the Kennebec Journal
reports.
A study of possible
high-speed, intercity rail for Colorado has found that lines between Fort
Collins and Pueblo and between Denver International Airport and Eagle County
have the best "operating and cost-benefit results" of the options
evaluated, The Denver Post reports.
Major work on the new
rail station at Puritas Avenue and West 150th Street in Cleveland
will shut down rail service for about two hours in the middle of the day on
Monday, March 29. Rush hours are not expected to be affected. Shuttle buses
will replace rail service between Hopkins Airport and the West Park Station.
The exact time of the two-hour shutdown will not be known until Monday, but it
will be between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
As part of the
Patrick-Murray Administration’s transportation reform agenda to strengthen
customer service, newly appointed MBTA General Manager Richard Davey said a
customer convenience for Orange Line riders providing for the first time
wireless telephone services along the entire Orange Line underground
corridor. Orange Line customers in
Boston can use their wireless devices from end to end of the Orange Line,
including 19 stations.
Vossloh
AG is acquiring the permanent-way segment of Saargummi Deutschland GmbH and
thus buttressing its Fastening Systems business unit. Located in Wadern-Büschfeld
in Germany’s Saarland, the segment is a leading supplier of highly elastic
intermediate layers and pads for rail fastening systems. The addition will mean
an extension to the Vossloh business unit’s vertical production processes plus
the acquisition of highly specific expertise in the processing of synthetic and
natural rubbers. Following the takeover by Vossloh the permanent-way segment of
Saargummi Deutschland GmbH will continue to operate at the Wadern-Büschfeld
location.
Work on a $2.8-million
project to add additional signals to the Caltrain signal system will take place
from 11:30 p.m. to 8 a.m., Saturday, April 3 between the San Carlos and
Atherton stations.
The Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved the terms for
the Funding Transfer and Master Cooperative Agreements between the agency and
Foothill Extension Construction Authority, setting the stage for construction
to begin on the first new rail project funded by Measure R.
A major construction
project using $13 million in federal stimulus funds will allow BART to offer
Pittsburg/Bay Point line customers more empty seats and better on-time service.
However, to provide these amenities, BART will have to temporarily shut down
the trackway between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill stations twice.
Environmental approvals for
the proposed $4-billion DesertXpress high-speed rail project between Las Vegas
and Southern California are taking longer than expected, but executives with
the project said March 25 they expect construction to begin this year, the Las
Vegas Sun reports.
(This column by Bob Riley, Haley Barbour, Ed Rendell, Phil
Bredesen and Bob McDonnell was published March 26, 2010, by The Washington
Post. Bob Riley, a Republican, is governor of Alabama. Haley Barbour, a
Republican, is governor of Mississippi. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, is governor of
Pennsylvania. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, is governor of Tennessee. Bob
McDonnell, a Republican, is governor of Virginia.) At the White House jobs summit in December, President Obama
told dozens of corporate leaders that he is looking for "every
demonstrably good idea" to put Americans back to work.
The plan to electrify
Caltrain will achieve a major milestone pending certification of the Final
Environmental Impact Report and Project Adoption on April 1 by the Board of
Directors. Approval by the board completes the environmental process for the
Caltrain Electrification Program, a major element of the plans to modernize the
Peninsula rail system, and positions the railroad to seek federal and state
funding.
Amtrak
is awarding a $37-million contract to PCL Construction Services, Inc., of
Bellevue, Wash., for Phase I and Phase II of a major upgrade of its Seattle
King Street Coach Yard Maintenance Facility. The facility supports Amtrak operations
and maintenance agreements in the Pacific Northwest, including for the Empire Builder,
Coast Starlight, Amtrak Cascades, and Sounder commuter trains.
All Sounder north commuter
rail trains between Seattle and Everett, Wash., will end at Mukilteo due to a
mudslide north of Mukilteo. The Sounder north line normally serves stations in
Edmonds, Mukilteo and Everett. Sounder will operate as normal from Seattle to
Edmonds and Mukilteo.
Passengers riding
Minnesota’s new Northstar Commuter Rail depend on well-maintained trains for a
fast, safe and reliable commute along the 40-mile run between downtown Minneapolis
and the northwest suburbs. The MTU Onsite Energy standby power system serves
the line’s only maintenance facility, where trains are serviced, repaired and
even washed.
Unless agreement can be
reached in two weeks, $131 million meant to separate railroad tracks in Colton
will go to other Southern California projects, and leave the region’s two
freight railroads without a project they say is critical to moving goods out of
the region, The Press-Enterprise reports.
Lemont, Ill., officials
would like to see more commuter train service for residents this year, and
believe it is a real possibility, according to the Lemont Reporter. But a
number of things must happen first before the hope comes to fruition, including
increased signalization and additional bi-passes along the railroad line to
improve safety and ease freight congestion. There also is the construction of a
train station in Romeoville and the approval from the railway that owns the
tracks.
