Work ready to crank up on first phases of Indiana’s South Shore Line Double Track project
Written by RT&S Staff
Officials hope to have better bids to act on by late August.
The South Shore Line Double Track project is advancing as planned. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District Board of Trustees approved a contract on Nov. 30 for demolition work in Michigan City.
Green Demolition of Chicago won the $2.7 million project, which consists of prep work for the double track project. The board also OK’d $1.2 million for the manufacture of railroad turnouts needed to advance the project. The turnout work is expected to begin in the summer of 2021. Voestalpine Railway Systems will be supplying the turnouts. Final design work is currently being completed, and a construction contract is expected to be awarded soon.
Officials are waiting on a New Starts grant from the Federal Transit Administration that would pay for about 38 percent of project. The hope is the money will come during the first quarter of 2021. South Shore President Michael Noland says if the funding arrives in the next couple of months, construction of the double track project should begin the following summer.
NICTD’s West Lake Corridor project also is expected to start next summer. The project will extend commuter rail service south through Hammond and Munster.
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