They don’t look like much
at first glance: Narrow, freshly installed medians jutting up in the middle of
the road on either side of two railroad crossings, the Grand Island, Neb.,
Independent reports. But since Sept. 1, those medians have allowed Broken Bow’s
east side to finally experience some respite from the horns of the trains that
regularly rush through town.
The Kansas Department of
Transportation has submitted a final grant application totaling $10 million to
the Federal Railroad Administration for funding under the High Speed/Intercity
Passenger Rail program using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, said Ron Kaufman with KDOT, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
At the Northstar commuter
rail station in Fridley, Minn., installation of station platform pavers was
completed and roofing on the station shelters and east and west entrances continues.
Installation of glass for the station shelters and east and west entrances has begun.
Painting of the steel on the station platform and the east and west entrances
is completed for now and will continue after glass installation occurs.
(Below is a letter to The Honorable Peter M.
Rogoff, Administrator,
Federal
Transit Administration
, from the National Association of Rail Pasengers. The letter was co-signed by several other organizations interested in rail passenger service.)
Joined by federal, state and local officials in
united support, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed his submission of the
state’s application for nearly $4.7 billion in federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act funding for engineering, design and construction on California’s
high-speed train system. Pledging a dollar-for-dollar match from state and
local funds, including the high-speed rail bond passed by California voters in
November 2008, the state’s application would generate a nearly $10 billion
investment. This funding would collectively create nearly 130,000 jobs
throughout California.
A map from 1900 that
highlighted Kansas railways would have just been one giant black blob from all
the crisscrossing railways, The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kan., reports.
That’s
no longer true. Five counties in the state no longer have any railway of any
sort (Rooks, Graham, Greenwood, Chautauqua and Comanche).
Railroads might have their
roots in the 19th century, but they still are important to the area economy,
say transportation and economic development officials, The Longview News-Journal
reports. Two area groups, meanwhile, are working to provide more rail options.
Prisco R. Morella expects
a delivery every day. On Wednesday, it came at 1:45 in the afternoon – 126,000
gallons of vegetable oil, The Telegram and Gazette in Worcester, Mass., reports.
Cowboys Stadium will get
temporary commuter rail service for the 2011 Super Bowl, but it might not be
the plan that was previously announced, The Dallas Morning News reports.
The new Mission Bay Drive
crossing in San Francisco is scheduled to open to pedestrian and vehicle
traffic Oct. 7. The crossing will provide access to Mission Bay residential
neighborhoods and eventually, to the UCSF Mission Bay campus from the west side
of The City. The new Caltrain grade crossing is wider than most because it
crosses three tracks instead of the usual two tracks. There is a pedestrian
crossing on the south side of the grade crossing that includes safety gates
with emergency swing gates, tactile warning strips, sidewalks and pavement
markings. There is no pedestrian crossing on the north side of grade crossing.
For the first time,
SkyTrain passengers will be able to access platforms 3 and 4 at the Commercial-Broadway
SkyTrain station in Vancouver, B.C., from the new 10th Avenue entrance. Transit
customers should be advised that the elevator at 10th Ave is awaiting final
inspection. Passengers who need assistance should still use the elevator on the
north side of Broadway street.
Union Pacific
Chairman and CEO Jim Young, Iowa Department of Transportation Director Nancy
Richardson and Boone, Iowa, Mayor John Slight commemorated one of North America’s
tallest double-track railroad bridges, the new Kate Shelley Bridge in Iowa
spanning the Des Moines River. Young, Richardson and Slight rode a Union
Pacific train over the bridge, which is more than 2,800 feet long and 190 feet
high.
The California High-Speed
Rail Authority on released its much-anticipated "alternatives
analysis," the most detailed view yet of how the massive transportation
project might forever transform the region from San Francisco to San Jose, the
Mercury News reports.
Top BART, State of
California, regional transit and local officials broke ground on the subway
portion of the Warm Springs Extension, a 5.4-mile project that will bring BART
closer to San Jose.
On October 7, 2009, The
Kansas City Southern Railway Company will close the Booth Street crossing in
Monroe, La. This crossing closure is part of a five-year, multi-million dollar
corridor project agreement between KCS and the Louisiana Department of
Transportation and Development to improve public safety at grade crossings
across Louisiana and in Monroe.
Metra officials joined
with Winnetka President Jessica Tucker and other local officials to break
ground on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Winnetka, Ill., train
station on the Union Pacific North line.
Good towers make good
neighbors, the Palm Beach, Fla., Post reports. Neighborhood opposition was
sparked when Florida East Coast Railway said it planned a 200-foot-tall
communications tower – twice as high as the Jupiter Lighthouse – just west of
the tracks off the Loxahatchee River.
Consider it a
housewarming party of sorts. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad
showed off a newly rebuilt, 30-mile stretch of line to Rochester-area
government officials , according to the Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin. And
what better way to see the new tracks than from the upholstered comfort of one
of DM&E’s Pullman passenger cars?
HJ Skelton (Canada) Ltd. was
award a contact from Stacey & Witbeck for the supply of all the special
trackwork and associated switch machines for the Portland Streetcar Loop
Extension. Encompassing a total of 3.3 miles and serving the Eastern half of
Portland Central City, this extension will utilize a combination of Ri59/59R1
and the low profile R152/51R1, rail sections.
Beginning October
4, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will reach
another milestone as it begins the pre-revenue testing phase before the opening
of the six-mile extension of the Metro Gold Line to East Los Angeles, which is
expected this fall.
