Starting in mid-June,
contractors will add a second set of tracks to a 2-mile stretch of the coastal
railway through Carlsbad, Calif., the North County Times reports. Having a
double set of tracks will provide new passing points for trains and reduce
delays for both local Coaster commuter trains and Amtrak long-distance trains,
John Eschenbach, senior project manager for Amtrak, said.
PennDOT says moving
freight by rail eases congestion on highways, saves fuel costs and, with some
enhancements to the current lines, the state could improve upon its position as
an important crossroads for the rest of the country, the Beaver County Times
reports. A PennDOT study released earlier this month outlines what officials
hope will be the future of the rail industry-freight and passenger-and spells
out what needs to happen to achieve the goals the report sets for 2035. And
while the report makes it clear that many of the goals must be achieved by both
sides of the industry, it sets a few priorities for specific improvements that
will help improve freight rail in the state.
CSX Transportation, citing
safety concerns, has told the New York Department of Transportation that
passenger trains traveling faster than 90 mph would have to do so in a separate
corridor located at least 30 feet away from the nearest freight track, the
Albany Times Union reports.
As the 2010 construction
season gets under way, Amtrak is embarking on $1-billion construction program
to fund capital projects designed to rebuild, upgrade and modernize its tracks,
bridges, stations and other critical infrastructure along the busy Northeast
Corridor and across the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and
the Miami area.
Buses will replace train
service for Long Island Rail Road customers traveling between Long Beach and
Valley Stream May 1-2 as work continues on the construction of two new railroad
bridges over Powell Creek and Hog Island Channel. The $24.5-million project,
which is funded through the MTA Capital Budget and federal grants, will also
require another train outage on the weekend of May 15-16. The railroad’s goal
is to complete the installation of both bridges before Memorial Day.
Working closely with city and state officials, CSX Corp. has come up with some modifications to its plan to more than double the size of its freight yard so it addresses traffic and neighborhood issues that have been raised, the Telegram & Gazette reports.
CSX has proposed redesigning the access point to its freight yard on Grafton Street so the road comes out next to the eastbound entrance to Interstate 290 and directly aligns with the I-290 Grafton Street off-ramp.
With such a reconfiguration, trucks would not have to travel on Grafton Street to enter or exit the freight rail yard, thus addressing concerns that had been raised by business owners in that area.
The cost to modify that part of Grafton Street has been pegged at $2 million.
CSX is also looking at roadway improvements at three key intersections – Brown Square (Franklin and Plantation streets), Plantation and Aitchison streets, and Aitchison and Shrewsbury streets – to accommodate the 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles per day that would no longer be able to use Putnam Lane.
To facilitate the $100 million expansion project – the 28-acre freight yard would be increased to 51 acres in size- CSX has to acquire 11 parcels of privately owned commercial properties near the existing freight yard, and acquire portions of public streets. Also, Putnam Lane, which connects Franklin Street to Shrewsbury Street, will have to be closed.
The estimated cost of the geometric modifications to those intersections is estimated at more than $1.5 million.
In addition, CSX has agreed to address concerns raised by city officials about the grade of the bridge it plans to construct on Franklin Street. The bridge will enable trucks and containers to move from the rail lines to within the freight yard without having to go onto city streets.
But the grades of the ascent and descent of that bridge was originally 9 percent – something public works officials had a problem with. To lower those grades to a more acceptable 6 percent, CSX has agreed to lower the road that will run beneath the bridge.
Also, more than $5 million worth of streetscape improvements are being considered in a 2-mile area around the freight yard. Those improvements would include repaving streets and sidewalks, planting new trees, installing benches and enhancing pedestrian crosswalks.
Still unresolved, however, is an alternative connection to the planned closing of Putnam Lane, which is a source of contention among many East Side residents.
Robert L. Moylan Jr., commissioner of public works and parks, said 10 different options have been considered involving potential bridge connections between Franklin Street and Shrewsbury Street, but he said all have been ruled out because the significant grade difference between the two streets makes a bridge connection unfeasible.
He said the roadway grade involved would be in the range of 15 to 22 percent; in comparison, the grade of George Street, considered one of the steepest streets in the city, is about 16 percent.
"We’ve had to reject every bridge design because the grade involved makes bridges impractical," Mr. Moylan said at a joint meeting of the City Council Public Works and Public Service and Transportation committees. "Such a bridge would not meet good engineering practices."
Mr. Moylan said one alternative that has been broached is building a 270-foot tunnel that would connect Shrewsbury Street to Franklin Street, near Villa Nova Street. But he said the cost of such a tunnel would be $20 million to $30 million.
The New York Metropolitan
Transportation Authority released a revised draft 2010-2014 Capital Program.
The $26.3-billion program reflects a nearly $2-billion reduction as the result
of a comprehensive review and a new MTA focus on cost effectiveness and
efficiency. The plan will be considered by the MTA Board at its monthly meeting
on Wednesday, and if approved will be sent to the State’s Capital Program
Review Board for its approval. Thanks to last year’s rescue legislation, the
first two years of the program are funded and the MTA is seeking approval to
begin work immediately. The full plan and an executive summary are available
online at www.mta.info.
Port officials in Coos Bay,
Ore., expect to sign a deal with Union Pacific as soon as next week to take
control of the rail line between the North Spit and Coquille, The World
reports. Port commissioners approved an agreement that Executive Director
Jeffery Bishop has been working on for nearly a year, said spokesman Martin
Callery. The deal means rail service can reopen as soon as next year, all the
way from Eugene to Coquille — an important step for southern Coos County shippers.
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail
Transit (SMART) is an overwhelmingly popular rail initiative in Northern
California, according to an article in The American Surveyor. Measure Q had an
amazing 70-percent support of the two-county (Sonoma-Marin) SMART District.
State Representative Rick
Geist (R-Altoona), Republican Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, unveiled
a package of legislative proposals designed to address Pennsylvania’s
transportation infrastructure funding crisis.
